A letter of chance
by sumrandomperson
Summary: Sirius has just been freed and is planning a mini vacation with the trio when they get a mysterious letter.They are sent back to 1977 along with Remus to go to school with Harry's parents.There are friendships formed,secrets revealed,and one big shocker
1. Back through time

I know, I know, another time travel fic, but these are really fun.

This takes place in Harry's fifth year, but they know about Grimmauld place and the prophecy and everything already. And Ron is the keeper on the Quidditch team. Sirius does not die because I hate that she killed him 

**PRE HBP**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

A/n: There will probably be stuff in here that hasn't been invented in that time period, but pretend it has.

* * *

Chapter 1: Back through time

"Harry, wait up!" Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley called to their best friend, Harry Potter. He stopped walking and waited for them to catch up, impatiently tapping his foot. When they finally got to him, he made to begin walking again, but Hermione stopped him.

"Where are you going? We need to get to Transfiguration!"

"I'm going to see Sirius so, if you two don't want to come with me, you should go to class." He adjusted his bag on his shoulder, and set off once more. Growling with impatience Hermione went after him, dragging Ron.

"Harry, come one. He'll be fine and we can visit him after dinner."

"Hermione, that's in five hours, and I want to see him now," he replied.

"Fine, we're coming with you but we better make it to Charms, or I am not going to be helping you or Ron with your Potions essay tonight."

"Hey! Harry's the one making us skip class, so why should you take it out on me?" Ron cried out in protest. He really needed help with the essay. Hermione didn't say anything, however, and kept walking.

"I can't believe they attacked him," Harry said through gritted teeth.

"Well, they did think he was a murderer," Ron said. "The good news is they've cleared his name now." Harry grinned.

"I know. It'll be great not having to live with the Dursley's anymore."

Finally they reached the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey told them to wait a minute before she let them in.

"Hey, I just thought of something. Maybe Sirius could teach us how to become animagi," Harry whispered. "It would make it so much easier to hide from Voldemort. We could let Dumbledore know, of course." His friends gaped at him, but then Hermione said.

"That's a great idea, Harry. It would make lots of things a lot easier." Ron stared at her incredulously.

"Hermione, you're afraid of getting detention, and now you're willing to do something that will land you in Azkaban?" he said, his voice rising. She glared at him.

"Tell the whole world, why don't you?" Harry muttered.

"If you don't keep your voice down, I'll do something that will land me in Azkaban," said Hermione. "And if you want to know, it will have something to do with your life ending." Ron gulped and nodded.

"I guess it is a good idea," he said. Before they could continue the conversation, the doors swung open, and Madam Pomfrey beckoned them inside. They walked through and over to a bed that contained a man with shaggy black hair, and shadowy eyes.

"Hello!" he greeted them brightly.

"Hey Sirius. How are you doing?" Harry asked.

"I'm fine," he answered. But I want to know what happened after all those aurors 'took care of me'. All I remember is hearing them cursing me." The previous day, Dumbledore brought the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and a bunch of aurors to his office, in which sat Sirius, Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Upon entering, the aurors saw Sirius and hit him with different spells. The spells together caused a lot of cuts, and bruises, and knocked Sirius unconscious. Soon after, Dumbledore explained that Sirius was innocent, by giving them Peter Pettigrew, who had been caught the day before. Sirius' name was cleared, and he was brought to the hospital wing.

"Dumbledore gave them Wormtail, and they declared you innocent," Ron explained excitedly. Sirius stared.

"Are you serious?

"Yeah!"

"Wow! I can't believe it! I'm free! I can't wait to go outside as a free man!" Sirius exclaimed. "I'll have to make sure I still have all of my money. Then I'll need to get a wand and robes and everything. A house, too. Preferably a mansion, like James used to live in." Sirius didn't notice the look on Harry's face after that comment. "Of course, the Ministry will be paying for all of this. It's payback time." Harry and his friends grinned, Harry forgetting about the memory of his dad.

"Sirius?" he asked.

"Yes, Harry?"

"I'll be able to come and live with you now, right?" Sirius' eyes lit up.

"Of course! I can't believe I forgot about that. This is going to be so much fun! I'm getting Dumbledore to let you all out of school, to come shopping with me." Harry and Ron cheered but Hermione looked worried.

"No, we can't! It's only the first day back, and we'll miss so much if we go. I mean, I want to and everything, but we just can't!"

"Don't worry, Hermione. All we do the first week back is review anyway. You know that." Ron said.

"Yes, but it's important," she protested.

"Hermione, there's no way you forgot what we did last year. You don't need a review class."

"Well, what about you?"

"Harry and I don't need those classes. We're perfectly able to do everything we did last year." Hermione wanted to argue, but she knew they would win in the end.

"Oh, all right." Then she had a thought. "But Dumbledore won't let us go."

"Oh yes he will," came a voice from the doorway. They turned around to see Dumbledore himself standing there. Hermione had obviously been counting on the fact that he wouldn't let them go because her face fell.

"B-but we'll miss so much! I mean- it's just that-" she broke off when Sirius changed into a dog. He started whining, and looked up at her with puppy dog eyes. The girl smiled. "That's not fair Sirius! You know nobody can resist that look, especially from a dog!" she hit him playfully. "Fine! We can go for a week, I guess." Sirius changed back.

"Thanks, Hermione!" he gave her a bear hug. She blushed.

"You know, it sounded like you didn't want to come," said Ron in an accusing tone.

"I do, I'm just worried about the amount of things we'll miss."

"Whatever. Anyway, I just remembered about Harry's idea!" said Ron.

"What idea?" asked Sirius.

"Well," Harry began, but looked around. Madam Pomfrey was treating another patient. "Professor, could you do a Silencing Charm?"

"Of course, Harry," said Professor Dumbledore. Once the task was finished, he said "You can speak freely now."

"I was thinking that, maybe, Sirius, you could teach us three to be Animagi?" Harry asked hopefully. "It would make getting away from Voldemort a lot easier and stuff." Sirius frowned.

"I could. It's dangerous, though," he said. "There are so many things that could go wrong. I don't know. What do you think, Albus?"

"I agree with both of you. It would be very useful, but it is dangerous. Of course, I could help make it safe." He was silent for a little. "I suppose it is a good idea," he said after a while. "Yes, we should do it. Let's go." The others looked surprised.

"Now?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, now," said Dumbledore. "I can help you do it so that it'll take you less time to be able to transform completely. While you're on your break, you can practice. You should be finished in about a month, most likely."

"A month!" Sirius exclaimed. "It took us five _years!_"

"Magic is much more advanced now," chuckled Dumbledore. He took the Silencing Charm off of the group and called Madam Pomfrey over. She checked Sirius over and declared him free to go.

They all headed up to the seventh floor, where the Room of Requirements was. Everyone walked past it three times thinking: _We need a place to do Animagi lessons_. A golden door appeared and they went through. Inside there were a lot of shelves, some containing potion bottles, and some books. There was also an area surrounded by pillows, and a table on which a piece of paper lay. Professor Dumbledore took the paper off of the table and read it. Then he turned to a shelf and pulled some potion bottles from it.

"Who wants to go first?" he asked. Ron and Hermione looked at each other and pushed Harry off the couch they had seated themselves on. He glared at them but got up and walked forward.

"Me," he said. Dumbledore smiled. He poured the different substances from their bottles into a cauldron and mixed it. Then he gave some to Harry.

"Drink." Harry did as he was told. Immediately he felt like he was floating and Dumbledore said an incantation. He shrank down. Something hard formed on his face. He heard screaming in the distance and felt pricks all over his body. His feet filled with agony as they changed. A roaring sound was in his head, growing louder and louder. The words "Golden Eagle" flashed in front of his eyes. Then everything stopped and he lay moaning on the pillows.

Everyone was crowded around him.

"I remember we thought something had gone horribly wrong when we did this," said Sirius. "You ok, Harry?" Harry opened his eyes. Hermione's hand was at her heart. She had been the one who screamed.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You changed," said Ron. "You were an eagle. But then you started wriggling around, like you were having a fit or something."

"What did you see?" asked Dumbledore.

"The words 'Golden Eagle'," answered Harry.

"Ok. Calm down a little and go practice while Miss Granger goes," said Dumbledore. Sirius helped Harry stand up and led him out of the circle of pillows. Hermione looked like she really didn't want to do this but she took Harry's place. Harry tried to turn into an eagle by thinking like an eagle and imagining one. He had that prickly feeling again. He looked at himself in the mirror. He had feathers! But then he winced. It hurt!

"Is it always going to hurt?" he asked Sirius.

"No, just the first couple of times. It must be worse for you since your hands and toes change," he answered.

"Yeah, it killed," said Harry. He turned to watch Hermione. She had taken the potion and Dumbledore was saying the spell.

"_Animalis Retegere._" Hermione fell onto the pillows. Her body shrunk and grew feathers. Her feet turned into talons, her arms became wings and she grew a beak. You could tell she was in pain. She was wriggling on the ground. When she turned back she was breathing heavily. She opened her eyes and looked at all of them.

"What did you see?" Sirius asked.

"Hawk," Hermione answered. Dumbledore nodded.

"You and Harry must have a very strong connection, since you are both birds," he said. "Go over with him and practice." Hermione got up and walked unsteadily towards her friend.

"So, if some people have a strong connection, they will be the same type of animal?" Harry asked.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "Mr. Weasley?" Ron stepped into the circle. He didn't know what he would do if he wasn't a bird. He would be embarrassed and sad was all he knew. He didn't have to worry, though. He went through the same agony as his friends. When asked what he saw, he blushed.

"Hawk owl," he answered. Hermione blushed too.

"You two have an extra special connection," Sirius teased. Harry pretended to pout but Ron turned even redder and punched him playfully. Dumbledore smiled and walked over to Sirius, wasting no time. He held a piece of parchment in his hand.

"Give this to me as soon as you can," he said. "Wait at least ten minutes, though." Sirius was confused but nodded, knowing it would probably make sense later.

The three teenagers practiced transforming for a while before Sirius said they should stop for now. As they sat on the couch, resting, Harry suddenly realized something.

"Hey, Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

"If a group of people have an extra special connection they turn into the same type of animal, how come you and my dad were so different?"

Sirius got a strange expression on his face.

"I think – I think it was because of Peter," he said.

"Oh," said Harry quietly.

"If only we could do it over again…" said Sirius, more to himself than to Harry. Bringing himself out of his reverie, he looked around. "Well, we should go pack!" he said brightly.

"Ron and I will go get Pig and Hedwig," said Harry. Hermione announced that she was going to look for Crookshanks and left. Sirius went to the boys' dormitory and plopped himself onto Ron's bed.

Soon Ron and Harry burst into the room, startling Sirius. Harry put Hedwig in her cage and put her on his bed. He took his Firebolt out of his trunk and then sat down on the bed, holding Hedwig and the broom with his feet resting on his trunk.

Ron threw Pig in his cage and thrust it at Sirius. Not waiting to see if he caught it, Ron started locking his trunk hurriedly. Sirius looked amused.

"We're only going for a week, you know," he said.

"Yeah, but we just got to school yesterday, and it's not like we've really had time to unpack, so it makes sense to just take our whole trunk." Harry said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. His godfather raised his eyebrows and coughed. Strangely it sounded a lot like the word lazy.

Ignoring him, Harry said "Come on, Ron, hurry up!"

"Shut up. You know how hard it is to close these rusty locks," said Ron. Suddenly the door banged open again. Hermione stood in the doorway, Crookshanks under her arm and her trunk behind her.

"Well, which one of you is taking my trunk?" they didn't say anything. "I can see Harry and Ron have their own trunks, so I guess Sirius will be doing it." She brought her luggage to Ron's bed, and stood there waiting for him to take it.

"Why should I?" Sirius asked.

"Because you're so strong and I can't carry it down by myself," she said, making him grin.

"Well, If you put it that way-" he was cut off by Hermione.

"Great! Chop, chop." When she saw their faces, she burst out laughing. "I was just kidding! You should have seen your faces! It was hilarious!"

"Obviously" Ron grumbled, and went back to his trunk.

"But I really do need you to carry it down Sirius."

"You carried it yesterday without a problem, Hermione," Harry pointed out.

"Yeah, well it's going downstairs now. I'll take it from the common room."

"Fine," Sirius sighed. Just then an owl flew into the room, and dropped a letter into his lap. It was a strange owl; half of it was white, and half was black. "What's this?" Sirius wondered as the owl flew away.

"Open it!" Ron said, standing up. Sirius obliged, and read the letter out loud. It was more of a note, really.

"_When you come back, no time will have passed. Wait for another owl_." Everyone was confused, and Sirius tossed it aside with a "Whatever" Suddenly the room began shaking, and Ron was thrown on his trunk. Hermione fell on Sirius, and Harry barely managed to stay on his bed. In a minute, everything was back to normal, and they all stood up. Crookshanks was hissing angrily, and the owls were hooting.

"What just happened?" Hermione asked getting off of Sirius.

"No idea," Harry said.

Remus Lupin, DADA teacher, suddenly appeared in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Moony?" Sirius asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I was unjinxing a mirror. Scared Neville half to death this morning when it showed him with two heads. What just happened?" Remus asked.

"Well, we were packing to go shopping with Sirius for his stuff when this weird black and white owl flew in and delivered a letter," answered Harry.

"What did it say?"

"Something about when we return no time will have passed and to wait for another owl. It could have been Dumbledore, since he knows about the shopping trip, but then time would have passed. The only way it wouldn't have would have been if we used a Time Turner or something-" Hermione said. Then realization dawned on her face. "Professor-we couldn't have-could we?" she asked. He nodded grimly.

"I think we may have," Remus answered.

"May have what?" asked Ron.

"Never mind for now. Put your trunks back," Remus said. They didn't ask questions, and did what they were told. "Now let your owls out, and rearrange your things as if you weren't going anywhere. They did that as well (Hermione had gone to the girls' dormitories with Remus for a minute to do it too).

"Why does she need Professor Lupin to put her stuff back?" Ron asked the other two.

"Guess its heavy," said Harry and shrugged.

Once Hermione and Remus came back in the room, they all headed downstairs to the common room. But then Ron, Harry, and Sirius stopped.

"We want an explanation," Sirius demanded.

"Yeah, we know something is up," added Ron.

Remus sighed and nodded.

"Ok, the thing is-" he began but stopped when the portrait opened. Three boys walked into the room, and stopped talking as well when they saw the other group. "Oh no," groaned Remus quietly. Nobody heard him except Hermione, who gave him a worried look.

"Hello!" one boy with blue eyes and black hair that went down to his shoulders said cheerfully. "Who are you?"

"Don't you mean who are _you_?" Harry asked narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah, we've never seen you around here," Ron added suspiciously. The other boys looked shocked and a little angry. Ron and Harry looked at Sirius, but his eyes were wide with horror. He tugged on Remus' sleeve.

"Moon- I mean…um…Richard is this what I think it is?" he asked. Harry and Ron were confused, and annoyed. Why was Sirius calling Remus Richard? And why wasn't anyone telling them what was going on?

"Listen, we really want to know what's going on here, Sir-" Harry began, but was cut off when Hermione elbowed him very painfully in the ribs. Once he recovered he glared at her. "What was that for, Hermione?" she looked at him apologetically. The other three boys just stood there, very confused.

"Hold on a second" she said to them, and pulled Sirius, Remus, Harry, and Ron over to a corner. "Harry, you can't say Sirius' or Remus' names! What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking I'd like to know what's going on here!" he said, his voice rising. The three boys in the front of the room looked at him, startled. Ron nodded in agreement. Hermione looked shocked.

"You don't get it yet?"

"Hermione, not everyone had an IQ of, like, 1000," Ron said.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"We went back through time," she told them.

Their eyes widened.

"We did what now?"

"We went back through time," she repeated.

"Yeah and it gets better," said Sirius.

"How can this possibly get 'better'?" asked Harry irritably.

"The three kids standing right there."

"What about them?"

"That Remus, James, and I, back when we were fourteen."


	2. Meet the parents

A/n: For younger Sirius and Remus I'll say Sirius and Remus but for older Sirius and Remus I'll use the names they come up with in this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 2: Meet the parents

"You mean…that's my dad?" Harry asked shakily. Remus nodded grimly.

"Yes, Harry," he said.

"So we went back in time…into you guys' fourth year?"

"Yeah."

"Does that mean my mom's here too?"

"Yeah. But Harry, listen to me. You've been given a great chance. A chance to meet your parents. Sure, they're a year younger than you at the moment, but it's still something. Now, I know you'll want to warn them, even perhaps take action to change the future. But you must remember: under no circumstances may you do any such thing," said Remus.

"But, why not? Think about it! It will change their lives! I won't have to live with the Dursleys and my parents will still be alive!"

"Yes, but so will Lord Voldemort."

Harry looked confused.

"Professor…he's still alive," he said.

Sirius gave Remus a stern look, unnoticed by the others.

"Harry, have you every heard of the Butterfly Effect?" asked Remus. Harry nodded.

"It's a book and a movie," he answered.

"Yes. And you remember what happens, right?"

"He tries to fix his life by preventing or causing certain events but it just makes it worse and changes things he would realize it would change…" said Harry, realization dawning on his face.

"So you get it now? You can't breathe a word about their future," said Remus. Harry nodded. "Otherwise, however, I hope you enjoy yourself here. Have fun, meet your parents. I don't know why we got transported here and how we'll get back, but I'm sure it'll happen in due time."

Everyone else nodded too, as Hermione took charge.

"Ok," she said. "Harry, you'll be called Harry Portico, Ron will be Ron Westle, and I'll be Hermione Garnly. Professor, you can be Richard Lantir, and Sirius you'll be Samuel Brown. Everyone remembers who they are?" Everyone gave a quick nod of their head and they headed back over to the boys who were still waiting. "Sorry about that. Technical difficulties," she said with a small smile. "I'm Hermione Garnly and this is Ron Westle," she pointed at Ron," Richard Lantir and Samuel Brown, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, and Harry Portico."

"I was wondering why Dumbledore didn't have a Defense teacher yet," said James.

"Blimey, James!" said Sirius. "That one looks just like you!" He pointed at Harry.

"He really does!" said Remus at the same times as Ron pretended to notice.

"Wow!" he exclaimed. "You guys look exactly alike!"

"Yeah, it's weird," Harry murmured.

Once everyone recovered from their shock (and their pretend shock) James, Sirius, and Remus introduced themselves

"I'm Remus Lupin." Remus said. Richard suppressed a shudder. It was really weird meeting the fourteen year old version of yourself.

"Sirius Black" Sirius said.

"James Potter," James introduced himself. "We're all in a group and we have another person but he's gone to Beauxbatons for this year. His name is Peter Pettigrew."

"We visited him there," Sirius announced. "It was really cool." Seeing their confused faces he said "They move in two days before the term, and have a free day and the feast on the next day." They nodded and he continued. "Everyone talks in French there, so he has this book that translates it. When someone's talking to him, he holds the book and it writes a translation. Then when he says something, he gives the book to them so it translates what he says. He told us it was really uncomfortable at first, but they're getting used to it and he's learning French."

"Cool," said Harry. "Do you have a name for your group or something?"

"Yeah," said James proudly. "We're called the Marauders."

"I like it," said Harry softly.

"Thanks," said James.

"So do you guys have beds and everything?" Sirius asked. "We didn't see any extras last night. You just got here today, right?"

"Yeah," said Ron.

"Cool," said Remus.

"So what were you guys doing up there?" James asked Richard and Samuel.

"Just helping them get settle in," said Richard.

"Oh."

Sam suddenly remembered the letter Dumbledore had given him.

"We should go tell the headmaster you three have arrived," he said to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Yeah," said Hermione. "Bye James, Sirius, Remus!"

"Can we sit with you at the mealtimes?" Harry asked. He really wanted to get to know his dad better.

"Sure! Just beware of Evans," James warned them.

"Evans?"

"Red head, with green eyes, like you've never seen before. Wait a minute, you have the same eyes!"

Harry realized with a jolt that Evans was his mother.

"Wow, I thought mine were one of a kind," he said. "Well besides my mother's. I got them from her."

"Giving too much away," hummed Sam, rocking back and forth from his toes to his heels. Neither James, Remus, nor Sirius heard him.

"Cool. Anyway as I was saying, Evans has got a really bad temper. You guys are going into fourth year right?"

"Um, yeah," said Hermione.

"That's what year we're in!" said Sirius.

"Great!" said Hermione happily.

"Well, we got to go. See you at dinner. It's at 6:00," said Remus. They waved and went upstairs. Sam, Richard, Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the common room.

"This is going to be the easiest year ever! We're going to learn everything we learned last year," said Ron.

"I only said it because we obviously want to be with Harry's parents, and once we go back to our time, we don't want to redo fifth year," Hermione told him.

"Whatever," said Ron. "It's still going to be easy."

* * *

As they were walking down the hall towards Dumbledore's office, Richard let out a moan.

"Oh no!"

"What is it, Richie?" Sam asked.

"The full moon's in three weeks!"

"Shit! We can't have two werewolves in the Shrieking Shack!"

"We can go into the Forbidden Forest. If we have a werewolf with us, nothing will attack us," said Hermione.

"Ok, but what about the symptoms? Richard will be getting pale and looking tired before and after the full moon. They'll notice that, and that he'll be gone from classes for a day, and Remus will notice Richard in the hospital wing, won't he?" said Ron.

"We'll just say he got injured or something. Fell down the stairs," said Harry.

"I don't know. Will that be enough?" asked Hermione.

"Maybe. Whatever, we have three weeks to think of it, right?" said Sam.

"Yeah," said Richard. "Come on, let's go see Dumbledore."

Once they reached the headmaster's office they took turns guessing the password.

"Lemon Drop!"

"Licorice wand!"

"Jumping Jellybeans!" The gargoyle sprung aside and they walked up the spiral staircase. Professor Dumbledore was sitting at his desk. His beard and hair were much shorter, and he looked a lot younger. There weren't as many wrinkles on his face, and his hair was colored with little specks of an auburn color. He looked at them expectantly. Sirius walked forward and handed him the letter. As he read it he smiled. Once he'd finished, he conjured up some chairs and they sat down.

"So you are Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, and Ms. Granger." They nodded. "And you've traveled back twenty years." Again, they nodded. "And you're passing yourself off as Harry Portico, Ron Westle, Hermione Garnly, Richard Lantir, and Samuel Brown. Well, Sam and Richard will be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professors, and you three will be starting your fifth year."

"Can we be in fourth year, Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked. "I want to be in the same year as my parents, and we want to go back to our time and not have to redo fifth year. We want to redo fourth year here in this time."

"Very well, you will be fourth years. As for Mr. Lantir's lycanthropy, you'll have to go into the Forbidden Forest; we can't have two werewolves in the Shack."

Richard nodded.

"Now, Richard, Samuel, come with me. I will show you to your rooms and give you your schedules. You three may explore the castle until dinner and will receive your schedules tomorrow morning. Have fun."

* * *

"Harry! Ron, Hermione!" The trio looked over and saw Sirius waving crazily. "Over here!"

"Hey guys," Harry said as they sat down. "What's up?"

"Nothing really. It's too bad you missed the feast yesterday. You've never had a feast like the ones here," Remus told them, helping himself to potatoes. They almost laughed because they had actually had more than Remus, James, and Sirius had.

"Well, the food tonight should make up for it," Ron said grabbing some chicken. They were all talking and eating happily when they heard a shriek. The Marauders looked at each other and smiled evilly.

"POTTER!" Harry instinctively looked over and saw a red headed girl being attacked by the food at her end of the Gryffindor table. The goblets around her were pouring their contents on her head and then kept refilling themselves and doing it again.

"Having trouble, Evans?" James asked sweetly. She glared at him, and made the food stop throwing itself at her. Then she got up and began walking over.

"I wonder how long this time, James," Sirius said.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Every time James does something to her food she comes over and slaps him. The longest the mark lasted was five days," he explained. James smirked as Lily reached their table. She lifted her hand, and made to slap him but he put a plate of mashed potatoes in front of his face. The girl let out a cry of disgust as her hand got covered in the food. James slowly took the plate away from his face and she glared at him.

"I hate you, Potter. You are so dead," she hissed and stormed out of the Hall. Harry only then realized that everyone in the Great Hall was watching them. But soon, everything was back to normal with everyone chatting away. The Marauders acted like nothing had happened.

"So do you guys like Hogwarts so far?" Remus asked. Ron looked at the teacher table where Sam and Richard's faces were red and you could tell they were trying hard not to laugh. He grinned at them, and turned back to his new friends.

"Yeah, it's great!" he said. Hermione frowned, but then forgot about the whole thing and occasionally joined in their conversations. When they started talking about Quidditch, however, she buried her nose in a book.

"Do you guys play Quidditch?" James asked.

"Yeah I played Keeper on my house team at school," Ron told them.

"Cool!" Sirius said. "I'm a Beater, and Jamsie is a Seeker."

"Do you play, Hermione?" Remus asked her. She looked up from her book long enough to shake her head.

"What about you, Harry?" James inquired.

"Yeah, I play Seeker too," he answered.

"That's awesome! We could exchange tips or something. Do you want to go out on the pitch after dinner?"

"Sure! That sounds like fun. How about we all go?"

"Well, Remus makes a pretty good Chaser, even if he doesn't really like playing," Sirius said. "So we'll force him." They all laughed.

"Fine." Remus grumbled. "But still if we have one Beater and one Chaser and two Seekers it won't work, so you have to be a Chaser, Sirius."

"Ok then. Being Beater's better but there's no one that's going to be playing with us that I'd like to injure. Yet," Padfoot said and grinned.

"We need another Keeper then," Harry pointed out. Everyone looked at Hermione. She noticed they were all quiet and looked up.

"What are you looking at me for?"

"Do know how to play Keeper, Hermione?"

"No!"

"Oh, come one it's not hard. Pleeeeeease," Ron begged.

"No, I could play Chaser but not Keeper." Now everyone looked at Remus and Sirius.

"What you expect me to be able to play Keeper?" the latter exclaimed.

"Yes," they all said.

"Ok, fine I'll play Keeper." Everyone turned back to Hermione. She put down her book, and said.

"All right I'll play. But none of us have brooms. Well neither Ron nor I do."

"Oh we'll go steal the school ones," Remus said.

"I thought you were the responsible one?" Hermione said.

"How would you know?"

"Dumbledore said."

"Haha. Well, sometimes…" said Remus. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well, we'll be waiting outside for you in ten minutes," James said and he and the other two left.

"Guys, how am I going to explain my Firebolt?"

"Your god father is in the business, and he got one specially made for you," Ron said. "Now let's go get your broomstick."

"No, wait," said Harry. "It's too good for that excuse to work. I mean, it was invented, like, twenty years from now."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Oh well, just take one of the school brooms," said Ron. Harry nodded.

On the way to the common room, they saw Sirius hurrying to the grounds.

"We started to turn Evans' hair purple and pink but we only got the purple part before she caught us. Can you guys finish it?" he asked. Harry shrugged.

"Sure." Sirius gave him a thumbs up and ran off.

"Harry! She's your mother!" Hermione hissed.

"Not right now and so what? It'll be fun," he said. "We never play pranks!" Hermione still looked disapproving. "Please, Hermione? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Fine," she grumbled, though a smile was visibly tugging at her lips. They reached the portrait, and said the password.

"Fairy dances." The portrait swung open, and they saw a very irritated Lily Evans in front of them.

"Hi, what's your name again?" Ron said.

"Lily Evans," she told him through gritted teeth and started searching for something in her Charms book.

"Oh, well we'll see you later," Harry said and he and Ron headed up to the boys' dorms. Remembering they didn't actually need to get a broom, they came back down almost immediately.

Hermione pulled them out of the common room, obviously trying to not give them time to hex Lily. But right before the picture closed, Harry and Ron turned her hair rainbow colors and ran off.

"Why'd you do that? It was just supposed to be pink and purple!" Hermione said trying to keep up.

"It's funnier that way," Ron explained.

"Yeah, Hermione don't worry about getting detention here. It won't go on your record now, so you can just relax and have fun. Live a little," Harry said and it worked.

"I guess it _was_ kind of funny" she said, picturing it, and started laughing. They reached the doors quickly and ran towards the Quidditch pitch. They stopped and tried to catch their breath when the Marauders jumped out from behind a bush.

"Did you do it?" asked James.

"We turned her hair rainbow," Ron said. Remus, James, and Sirius's faces fell.

"We did that at the feast yesterday."

"Oh don't worry, it's going to be neon and flashing for a couple of days. And there are going to be a lot of sparkles in her hair," Harry reassured them. They brightened immediately, and threw two brooms at Ron and Hermione.

"Where's your broom?" Sirius asked Harry. "I thought you said you had one."

"No, I think I forgot it actually," said Harry.

"Oh. That sucks. Well, here's a school broom," said Sirius. Harry sighed but took it. The school brooms from 1977 were going to be much worse than the ones from 1997.

"Seekers are captains!" James cried.

"Ok, I pick first!" Harry called, forgetting about his crappy broom. James stuck out his lower lip.

"Fine."

"Ok, Ron because he's gotten really good over the summer." Ron smiled, and jogged over to Harry.

"Then I get Sirius."

"Well, duh. He's the only other choice for Keeper," Harry said. James stuck his tongue out.

"What's with people and bursting bubbles? Ok Harry, it's your turn." Harry turned to Ron, trying to decide who to choose.

"Hermione's pretty good; she won the game we played at my house the day before you came because we didn't have a snitch so we played with just Chasers and Keepers. Ron whispered. Harry nodded.

"Hermione." She beamed and walked over.

"Well, there really was no point in having captains, was there?" Remus said, going over to James and Sirius.

"Nope," Ron said and mounted his broom. "What is this? A Comet 260?" The three boys on the other team gaped at him.

"Are you kidding? Those are expensive."

"Why would they be expensive? They're so slow!" Hermione kicked Ron in the shin. "I mean compared to Harry's broom."

"How is that possible? The Comet 260 is the newest model," Sirius said. "Why do you think James and I have them?"

"Oh, mine is specially made. My god father is in the business."

"Wow, that's so cool. I wish you had it with you," said James.

"Yeah, me too," said Harry.

"Is it fast?"

"Yeah. _Really _fast," said Harry.

"Sweet," said Remus.

Suddenly Sirius noticed a light.

"What's that light?" he asked squinting. Harry and Ron looked over and grinned.

"It's Evans." Sure enough, they could make out a girl underneath the flashing, sparkly, rainbow colored hair.

"Harry Portico, and Ron Westle, you two are going on my 'people to kill' list!" she shrieked. "I can't believe you did this! And none of it is washing out!"

"Better fly," James said, and they all flew into the air.

"Don't worry!" Harry called down. "It will come out in a couple of hours!"

"Hours? Hours? That's too long! Get it out right **NOW!**"

"Oops. I meant days," Harry whispered, pointing his wand down at her and muttering a spell. Everyone in the air laughed, even Hermione. James released the snitch that was in his pocket and Sirius threw the Quaffle out. They weren't using Bludgers because it was too dangerous, especially since they might not have been able to get them back in the box.

"Let's play!" Remus yelled and they began.

"Get down here!" Lily yelled. They pretended to not have heard her and she screamed in frustration. "Fine! But you'll get it later!" With that she stomped off, conjuring a hat and putting it on.

"Harry, are you sure you'll be able to see in the dark?" James asked, smirking.

"I think I can manage, especially since you're playing in the dark as well."

"Ah, but you forgot, or maybe don't know, that I'm the best seeker Hogwarts has had in a century." Harry smiled, thinking about how, since he got his Quidditch skills from his father, it should be an interesting match.

"Maybe you don't know that I was the youngest player in a century. I got on the team in my first year," he said. '_Too much info, too much info!'_ he thought.

"That's awesome! You must be really good," James said.

"Thanks, I'm sure you are too. Anyway, it's not too dark out here; we should be able to see the snitch."

"Harry! Stop yakking and look for the snitch!" Ron yelled from the goals.

"Sorry! What's the score?"

"Thirty to zero! I told you Hermione was good!" Ron said. Hermione blushed, but no one saw it because it was dark. Unfortunately, Remus took that opportunity to shoot the Quaffle through the left hoop.

"Yes!" Sirius cried, punching his fist through the air and nearly fell off his broom. Everyone laughed and continued playing. After another half hour, Harry was getting impatient. His team was winning by ten points; the score was fifty to forty. A crescent moon had come out, and was illuminating the pitch. It was 8:00 by then and the curfew for fourth years was 9:00. They would still get in trouble if they were caught though, because they weren't supposed to use the Quidditch balls without asking, or adult supervision.

"Ugh, where is that stupid snitch?" James grumbled, flying above Harry. They both looked up at the moon and saw it. There, right above the goal posts, the little golden ball was hovering. They both sped off towards it, and James pulled ahead. He stretched out his hand and was about to grab the ball, when it flew just out of his reach. He tried again and the snitch sped off to the other side of the field. Harry turned his broom and raced after the golden object, having a slight head start.

"Come on, just turn around and come in my direction," he said under his breath. James was now a little ahead of his friend and gaining on the snitch. Harry caught up to his future father and tried to go faster. James kept blocking his way though. 'He really is good,' Harry thought.

By that time everyone was watching the two eagerly, waiting to see who would catch the golden ball. Harry knew he had no chance of catching the snitch in his position, so he dived suddenly. James dived after him, thinking he had seen the snitch again (it had disappeared earlier) but Harry had other plans. As soon as James was catching up to his look alike, Harry pulled out of the dive and sped after the snitch, which he had seen on his way down. The game was over two seconds later. Everybody cheered or booed playfully.

"We won! We won!" Ron was yelling, over and over again. Hermione sighed.

"Yes Ron, we know."

"That was awesome," James said flying over to Harry.

"Thanks," said Harry.

"Where'd you learn to fly like that?" In the moonlight he could see Harry suddenly look sad.

"I got my flying skills from my dad."

"Wow, he must be really great."

"Yeah, he was. Or so I heard," the green eyed boy said. James suddenly felt really bad.

"W-was?" he asked.

"He was murdered when I was one, along with my mom," Harry told him. It felt weird to talk about his father's death with him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for bringing it up."

"No, it's ok."

"Well, we should go inside then." Harry nodded, and they both flew down to land, and headed back to the castle with the others.


	3. A rough and dangerous two weeks

Disclaimer: Nope I don't own Harry Potter.

"…"speech

'…'thought

* * *

Chapter 3: A rough and dangerous two weeks

The next morning the Marauders, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were eating breakfast and talking about last night's Quidditch game.

"You should have seen that goal!" Ron was telling everybody within hearing distance. "Swerve right, swerve left, dive under, fake throwing the quaffle left, and throw it right! Brilliant!" Hermione was blushing as red as the strawberries on her pancakes.

"Ron you're exaggerating"

"No, I'm not! You didn't see it. And Harry," he added angrily, "Was to busy talking to James to notice it."

"Sorry Ron," Harry mumbled.

"Are you ok, Harry? You seem really tired." Remus said. Harry looked up.

"You know, I've gotten used to Ron's snoring by now, but added with Sirius' it's a miracle I got any sleep at all." Everyone laughed and Ron and Sirius turned pink. The truth was Harry had had another nightmare but strangely it wasn't a vision. For some reason it seemed different, like a normal nightmare. It had been about Voldemort as usual but it just hadn't seemed real. In any case, Harry had only gotten about three hours of sleep that night.

"Shut up Harry," Sirius said "You're the one who was talking in your sleep loud enough to wake us all up at 5:00. Right guys?" Remus and James nodded but Ron looked at Harry questioningly, asking silently if he'd had a nightmare. Harry nodded, and Hermione noticed. She quickly changed the subject.

"You know what I heard Lily saying in her sleep last night?" she glanced at Harry making sure it was ok to talk about that, because she was his mom, but he was looking at her as excitedly as everyone else. She turned back to everyone else "She said 'Potter is so dead. Chainsaw…no too violent. Drowning, yes perfect.'" Everyone laughed again, but stopped when Hermione continued. "And I could have sworn she said something about just maiming you instead, James, because you were too cute to kill." It was James' turn to blush while everyone else snorted. Sirius patted James on the back.

"Finally she's come around. Jamsie poo has liked her since second year, but she keeps refusing to go out with him." Suddenly the doors to the Hall burst open. Lily came rushing in and stalked towards them. She stopped at Harry (who had fallen asleep in his porridge bowl) and jabbed her finger in his chest. He opened his eyes groggily, and looked at her. When he saw her hair he screamed. Everyone in the room turned to look at him and burst out laughing. Sam was in hysterics at the teacher table and Richard was laughing too. Dumbledore was barely able to conceal his amusement, and Professor McGonagall's lips were twitching. Harry looked around the room and shrugged. Then he fell back asleep. This made Lily even angrier and she stormed out of the room not even grabbing a piece of toast. Once everyone calmed down they poured some coffee (which Sam had given them on his way out) into Harry's mouth and dragged him off to classes. Soon he was totally awake again, but started to complain in their first class.

"You guys, this is cruel. What am I supposed to do in History of Magic? I can't sleep anymore!" Hermione looked at him sternly but then remembered she was supposed to lay off this year. Then she grinned along with everyone else, and lay her head down. Harry and Ron stared at her but then shrugged, and Ron put his head in his hands and fell asleep. With half an hour left to class Harry was the only one still awake besides Remus. Professor Binns (he was still alive) looked up for once and gave everyone except Harry and the werewolf zero for class. The other two got one hundred.

"Gloating doesn't get you anywhere, you know," Ron remarked, yawning as they headed for divination. Hermione had left for Arithmancy earlier.

"It makes me feel good though," Harry said smirking. Finally they reached the tower, and climbed through the trap door. They sat at two tables next to each other, and James and Remus forced Professor Carlson to let Sirius sit with them by saying he couldn't just sit by himself (there was an odd number of students and only two were usually allowed at a table).

"Think she's like Trelawney?" Ron whispered.

"Dunno, at least she doesn't look like a dragonfly," Harry said and Ron snorted.

"Who's Trelawney?" James asked staring at his teacup. The two boys from the future couldn't believe they were still doing teacups in fourth year. Divination was the only class that wasn't exactly like from their time. Potions was different too, but they didn't know that yet.

"Our divination teacher back at our old school," Ron said rearranging the tea leaves in Harry's cup with his finger so that they actually looked like something, while the teacher's back was turned. Unfortunately, he dropped the cup and Harry was forced to get another one. This time Professor Carlson took it, instead of Ron, and looked in. Suddenly she gasped and dropped it. The second cup shattered and pieces of glass flew everywhere.

"You have the Grim!" the professor shouted. Everyone except the Marauders, Harry, and Ron gasped. Sirius looked very interested suddenly. Harry sighed, getting ready for the usual ranting about how he'd be drowning or falling down the stairs. '_Just like Trelawney_' he thought irritably. But he was mistaken; instead of saying anything, Professor Carlson ran off to find a crystal ball. When she came back she pushed Ron's teacup aside (not caring when it fell to the floor and broke) and set up the ball.

"What's she doing?" Lily whispered. Everyone shrugged and continued watching with interest. Then the lady gasped again.

"You are not from here!" she exclaimed. "Neither of you. Your other friend isn't either." Ron and Harry exchanged fearful glances. Dumbledore had promised not to tell any of the teachers about where the trio really was from; was it possible this professor was a real seer? Or had she found out somehow?

"We all know that" Sirius scoffed "They _are_ transfer students, after all."

"Not like that," Professor Carlson snapped. "They are-" she broke off and looked at Harry and Ron. They looked at her with pleading eyes. Their divination professor paused. "You have a rough and dangerous two weeks coming. Especially with the Grim in your tea leaves," she said and stood up. "Class dismissed" Everyone was confused; there was still twenty minutes left. No one protested, though, and they all left.

"What was that about?" James asked on their way down to an early lunch. Sirius shrugged.

"The lady's nuts," he said. Ron and Harry chuckled weakly and Remus looked at them.

"Are you ok? You both look pale. Don't take what she says seriously. Last year she said Sirius would betray someone the second week of school this year and he would get hurt because of it. Or something like that anyway."

"I'm fine; I need to go talk to Hermione. Coming Ron?" He nodded and they sped off down the hall.

"What's wrong with them?" James mused.

"Dunno, but I'm starving let's go to lunch," Sirius said and the three of them went to the Great Hall.

Harry and Ron waited outside the Arithmancy classroom and when Hermione came out they dragged her into the empty classroom near them.

"Hey! What's going on?" she asked.

"In divination, Professor Carlson took out her crystal ball and she saw that we're from the future. She didn't say it out loud though, thank God," Harry said. Hermione paled.

"But Dumbledore couldn't have told anyone; he promised not to! Does this mean she really is a true seer? But that's good, because you can have real divination classes now!" Harry grabbed her shoulders.

"Listen, she also said I have the Grim in my tea leaves and I have a rough and dangerous two weeks coming especially with that stupid dog in my cup. If she's a real seer this is really bad. Remus told us that last year she said something like Sirius would betray someone the second week of school this year and would get hurt because of it. What if he finds out about us and tells everyone?"

"There's a lot more he could find out about us and tell anyone. But he doesn't necessarily have to betray us. I mean, he might betray Remus by sending Snape in the Shrieking Shack. Maybe that's this week, and that would betray Moony because he wouldn't want to kill anyone would he?" Hermione said.

"No, the full moon's only in three and a half weeks."

"We should go ask Sam and Richard," Ron suggested.

"Good idea" They all left the classroom, and ran to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"They're not here!" Ron wailed. "They must have gone to lunch already. Come on." As soon as they entered the Great Hall they saw Sam and Richard at the teacher's table, talking to each other. The three kids ran up to them.

"Si- I mean Sam, we need to know something," Harry began but the Marauders were coming up to them. Everyone was leaving the Hall; apparently they had missed lunch.

"Look, we can't talk right now but I want to tell you to be careful around Professor Carlson; she's not a fraud," Sam said, and he and his friend jumped up and hurried out of the room, heading to their class. Harry growled impatiently.

"Where were you guys all lunch?" James asked them.

"Nowhere," Ron answered distractedly. "Let's go to class. We have transfiguration, right?" The others nodded, and the Marauders followed them out of the Hall, still looking at them suspiciously.

After transfiguration they had Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"I heard this class was awesome," Remus said eagerly. He, James, and Sirius sat down in the back of the room, but Hermione, Ron, and Harry sat in the front next to Lily. They had decided to try and become friends with her.

"Listen Lily," Ron said, "We're sorry about the hair. We can change it back if you like." She turned towards him and Harry.

"Is this another prank?" she asked suspiciously.

"No, we just want to be friends," Harry said. Hermione smiled.

"The boys are great and all, but I could really use a female friend. And, even though I decided to be more laid back this year, I need a study partner," she said. Lily paused, and then smiled too.

"Fine but if you guys play anymore pranks on me you can kiss a friendship goodbye."

"But you know it doesn't count if the Marauders do it?" Ron said.

"Yeah, I know."

"Ok, good," Harry said and performed the counter charm turning Lily's hair back to normal. They talked for a couple of minutes, and then Sam and Richard came out of their office.

"Hello class," Richard said.

"Hey," Sam greeted them.

"Hello Professors Brown and Lantir," the class chorused. Sam rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly.

"Like I've told _every single_ class today, call us Sam and Richie. Or at least don't greet us like that. It sounds so mechanical," he said. The class was surprised at first, but then they decided that so far they liked these new teachers. Richard shrugged.

"Whatever, Sam. Now today we're going to be doing a very advanced charm, but we figured you'll need to know about it. We don't expect any of you to master it, but we know one person in here can." Harry thought he knew what was coming. He closed his eyes hoping Richard wasn't going to say exactly what he did say. "We are going to learn the charm that gets rid of dementors," Richard said.

"The _Expecto Patonum_ charm!" Sam exclaimed clapping his hands together. Richard sighed.

"It's _Expecto Patronum_," he said. Sam grinned sheepishly as the whole class burst into laughter.

"That's it, I've lost them. I guess you're going to have to do all the teaching," Sam said and sat down in the desk chair, putting his feet up on the table.

"Anyway," Richard said brightly "Harry, you know how to do it, don't you?" Harry glared at him and he looked back apologetically.

"Yeah, I do," the Boy-Who-Lived sighed and started to get up.

"How can he do it? That's really advanced magic; some grown wizards and witches can't make a Patronus and you think a fourteen-year old boy can?" Amelia Jackley said. She was Lily's best friend and had short blond hair and blue eyes. Of course she didn't know that Harry was actually fifteen. Not that that made a big difference, but you know.

"Well if you're sure you he can't do it, maybe he really can't," Sam said. "But do you mind giving him a chance?" he yelled. Amelia (or Mia as people called her) looked taken aback but nodded. Sam and Harry grinned, and the raven haired boy stepped up to the front of the classroom.

"Are you sure it will work without a dementor?" he asked Richard.

"Oh, and now we're supposed to believe he's faced a dementor too?" Mia scoffed. Lily elbowed her in the ribs, and Sam glared at her.

"Yes, it should work," Richard answered. Harry took a deep breath, and looked at James briefly. He didn't seem to be paying attention; he was passing notes with Sirius and Remus.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!_" Harry screamed. A silver stag galloped out of his wand, and stood in front of the class looking for dementors. It was then that James looked up.

* * *

Meanwhile… (This is what the Marauders were doing)

_**Hey Moony, Padfoot, there's something weird about Ron, Harry, and Hermione.**_

**Yeah I know. Like in divination today. I could have sworn they were looking at Carlson with a look that was asking her not to say what she was about to. What do you think, Moony?**

_I agree, and what's with Harry looking so much like James? Except for the eyes…they're like Lily's._

**Speaking of which, look, Harry and Ron just changed her hair back. I guess they're friends now. That's strange…**

_**And they're talking to her. Look, the Professors are coming. Hide the notes!**_

_That was too weird. Call them Sam or Richie?_

_**I think it's awesome. Finally normal Professors! Anyway back to the Three Newcomers Mystery.**_

**I like the name.**

**_Well it _is_ my idea._**

**I know it's a miracle isn't it. **

**_Shut up, Padfoot, dearest. Now subject TNM is important._**

_Why?_

_**Because I want to know what is up with them. ANYWAY, let's list what we know about them that seems suspicious.**_

**_1. They don't like talking about their past and Ron and Harry changed the subject whenever we tried to talk about their old school last night._**

_2. I could have sworn yesterday Professor Brown almost called Professor Lantir Moony._

**This should be called the Five Newcomers Mystery; FNM**

_**Right. Anyway Padfoot it's your turn.**_

**3. They were like 'Who are _you_?' when we asked them who they were. Or at least Harry said that.**

**_We were all in divination today so:_**

**_4. That thing in divination._**

_5. Harry's Patronus is a stag._

_**WHAT?

* * *

**_

The class looked at the silver stag in awe.

"Oh my God!" James screamed. Richard and Sam looked at him.

"He liked it a lot, huh?" Sam said nervously. Harry's Patronus vanished and James ran out of the room saying he needed to go to the bathroom. After five minutes Sirius claimed he needed a drink, and then Remus did too. Harry was worried. What had he done?

"It looks just like me! That _can't _be a coincidence."

"I know this is creepy," Sirius said.

"We need to know more about them," Remus announced.

"Thank God for the invisibility cloak," they all said at the same time and laughed.

"You all right, Prongs?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go back to class."

James, Remus, and Sirius walked back in and sat down. Richard cleared his throat and said,

"Well, now that we're all here again, we can continue. What Harry just produced was an excellent Patronus. Everyone's Patronus is different; it forms the shape of the thing that causes its conjurer the most happiness since dementors feed on happiness; sometimes it forms the shape of the thing the conjurer trusts the most-" James glanced uneasily at Harry "And sometimes it's the thing that will cause the conjurer the most happiness _and _the thing they trust most. Now, usually the Patronus takes the form of some sort of animal, in fact, I've never heard of another type. As we all saw Harry's Patronus takes the form of a stag. Would anyone else like to try?" Several hands were raised. "Ms. Evans?" she smiled and stood up. Once she took her place at the front of the room Richard said. "In order to do this successfully you need to think happy thoughts. Think of the happiest memory you have, and say _Expecto Patronum_."

"Ok." Lily thought about the day she found out she was a witch. _"Expecto Patronum!" _Out of her wand came a wisp of air.

"Try again," Sam said calmly. Everyone was watching Lily excitedly, waiting to see if she would do it. She tried again, but the same thing happened. The professors had her try three more times. By her fifth try she was getting frustrated. She knew nobody expected her to do it right away, but it was still making her mad. She was so upset that she ended up screaming.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!" _ A silver light came out of her wand, and vanished in two seconds. The professors clapped.

"Good job! Ten points to Gryffindor!" Richard exclaimed happily. Lily smiled and sat down.

"How about Mr. Potter now?" Sam said gesturing to the front of the room. James stood uncertainly, and walked over.

"Remember, think of a happy memory," Richard said.

'_Most likely going to be a stag. I love transforming and it can always get me out of somewhere. Ah well,'_ James thought then searched his mind for a happy memory. He settled on the first time he managed to successfully transform and pointed his wand.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" a blast of air came out. He tried again, "_Expecto Patronum!" _ A thin wisp of silver came out and held in the air for three seconds.

"Very good," Richard said. "Ten more points to Gryffindor."

'Is it just me or does he look sad?' James looked at the other professor and he looked the same. Their eyes held a sad, yet happy look. As if they had found something they had really wanted for a long time but they weren't allowed to keep it. He gave them a puzzled look, and went back to his seat.

* * *

The rest of the day was uneventful, but James was trying his hardest to avoid Harry, who was, apparently, trying his best to get close to James. The Marauders skipped dinner altogether, getting ready to spy on Ron, Harry, and Hermione. Nothing interesting happened that night and for the next two days, and they were getting discouraged. Finally on Saturday they decided this was the last day they were going to be spies if nothing happened. They covered themselves with the Invisibility Cloak and hid behind a bush near the big oak tree the other three were sitting next to.

"Well," Harry was saying, "We know Carlson was right; I have had a rough week so far with the Marauders avoiding me. But it hasn't been dangerous, and today's the last day of this week. Even though there's always next week. I hate the future." Ron chuckled.

"Harry, don't worry. We won't let anything happen to you," Hermione reassured him.

"Yeah, we'll make sure you stay safe and sound," Ron said. Harry grinned.

"Thanks guys. I don't know what I'd do without you." They continued talking about classes and teachers. Then Harry stood up and began walking on the shoreline. "Do you think-" he began but suddenly something wrapped around his ankle and pulled him in the water. Hermione and Ron stood up and began running to the water when Harry reappeared in the middle of the lake panting.

"Harry? Are you ok?" Hermione asked frantically.

"I'm fine. What was that? Why did it pull me in?"

"I don't know," Ron said in a worried tone. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine, Ron."

"Harry, come out of there and I'll dry you off," Hermione said.

"Ok." Harry began to swim to the shore but suddenly went under. After a second he reappeared and grinned. "That was fun. All right I'm going now." He started to swim again but sank under the water another time. This happened a couple of times and Harry always looked surprised but not worried or scared. But soon he wasn't swimming anymore and he kept going under the water and coming back up each time with a now terrified look on his face. He struggled to swim out but was gone in an instant.

"Harry!" Hermione cried. He didn't reappear for a couple of seconds and Ron ran to the lake and dived in. "Ron!" He soon appeared on the surface looking frantic.

"The thing has him under the water; it's not letting him up!" he shouted. "I'm not going to be able to help him alone, go get someone!" He dived under again. The Marauders got out of the Cloak and ran out of the bushes.

"Don't worry, Hermione, we'll get him," James said and he threw off his glasses and they all rushed to the water. Once they were under the surface they opened their eyes. The water was green and murky but they could still see. At the bottom Ron was struggling with an animal roughly the size of an elephant. It had three tentacles, one of which was holding a struggling Harry to the floor of the lake. It was still shallow at this part so it wasn't completely dark. James never tried using magic in the water so he pulled out his wand and said _Stupefy_. It didn't work, so he pocketed his wand and quickly swam up to catch his breath because he had swallowed some water. Soon he was back under and swam towards the animal. He could now see it had three eyes; one above each tentacle. Harry was struggling less by now and he looked terrible from lack of oxygen. Ron had gone for more air, Sirius was keeping one of the animal's tentacles occupied, and Remus had the other. James tried to get Harry out from under the third. When Ron came back, he helped them by poking one of the thing's eyes with a stick Hermione tossed him. The tentacles immediately loosened a little, and James grabbed Harry and began to swim up. The other three boys were right behind him. Harry was unconscious by now.

'_C'mon Harry, hang in there,'_ Ron was thinking worriedly. When they broke out of the water they all struggled to catch their breath and keep Harry's head above the water. By that time Hermione had splashed in and put a protective shield around the four, so the thing wouldn't get them again. They rushed to the shore and Hermione ran off to get Madam Pomfrey.

When she came back with the nurse, Harry was put on a stretcher and rushed away at once. Hermione performed a drying spell and they all hurried after Harry. On the way, Remus grabbed the Invisibility Cloak so nobody would find it. When they entered the hospital wing Madam Pomfrey was just reviving Harry.

"Somebody needs to get Hagrid so he can check out what that thing was," Ron said. "He is absolutely in love with dangerous creatures."

"Yes, will you and Ms. Garnly go and get him?" asked Madam Pomfrey. They nodded and left.

"Professor Carlson was right," Hermione said quietly. Ron grunted in agreement. They met Hagrid in the Entrance Hall along with half the school.

"Hagrid!" Ron called, but the giant man didn't hear him. "HAGRID!" he bellowed. Still, over the chattering of the students Hagrid didn't hear. "Oh, this is hopeless," Ron muttered. He pointed his wand at his throat. "_Sonorus_." He took a deep breath and screamed "HAGRID!" it was one hundred times louder though, so probably the whole castle heard him. Everyone stopped talking immediately and turned to Ron. "_Finite Incantatem,_" he said.

"Hagrid we need your help. There's some sort of creature in the lake; it attacked Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I'm comin'," he said and hurried to them. As they were walking (leaving many whispering students behind) he asked "Wha' did it loo' like?" he asked.

"Three tentacles and three eyes right above each of the tentacles."

"Oh. It's a…well I 'ave no idea wha' it is bu' I've seen one before. Wonder how it go' in the lake; they're really dangerous. Wha' happened?"

"It grabbed Harry's ankle and pulled him in and then it wouldn't let him back up. James, Remus, Sirius, and I all went after it and finally managed to get Harry," Ron explained. They reached the Hospital Wing again, and burst through the door. Dumbledore, Sam, and Richard were already there standing around Harry's bed along with James, Remus, and Sirius.

"Hagrid!" Dumbledore said in a worried tone. "Can you please go look at the creature?"

"Professor, I've seen one before. They're dangerous; really dangerous. I don' know how it go' in but I don' know wha' we can do teh get it out. I'll let you know when I figure it out."

"Of course Hagrid, hurry." Hagrid rushed out of the hospital to the lake.

"Professor, isn't he awake yet?" Hermione asked.

"I'm afraid not. The creature injected a poison into him; it's lucky you got him away in time. He might have been lost if it was any later." Ron swallowed and he ran to the bed with Hermione. "James, Sirius, Remus thank you for all of your help. I need to speak with Ms. Garnly, Mr. Westle, Professor Brown, and Professor Lantir privately." The boys nodded and left.

"Professor, will he be alright?" Sam asked.

"Yes, he'll be fine; Poppy injected something in him that stops the poison. Now, Mr. Westle, I understand Professor Carlson predicted Harry having a rough and dangerous two weeks, due to the Grim?"

"Yes we thought she was just a phony like Trelawney-" Dumbledore looked at him sternly, his blue eyes twinkling. "Oh sorry, we thought she wasn't a true seer until she saw in her crystal ball that we're from the future. She didn't say that to the class though, noticing we didn't want her to, and said Harry was going to have a rough and dangerous two weeks."

"Yes, she is a true seer. Ah he's starting to come around." Sam turned back around, along with the others, to see Harry opening his eyes.

"W-what happened?" he asked. Hermione told him everything and his eyes widened.

"Thanks guys. And can you thank James, Remus, and Sirius?"

"Sure."

"Harry, are you ok?" Sam asked worriedly. "You better be, or that thing is dead." Harry grinned.

"I'm fine Sirius," Richard sighed.

"Don't call us by our real names; we liked to listen in on peoples' conversations a lot when we were younger," he said.

"Sure thing Moony," Harry said grinning.

"Hey! Not those names either!" Richie exclaimed then muttered "Honestly you're so childish." Everyone laughed. Then Madam Pomfrey flew in.

"Mr. Portico, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, can I go?" he asked hopefully.

"Well, try standing up." Harry tried and he shook a little, but was able to walk.

"All right, you can go. But be careful today and if you feel unwell come here."

"Ok." They left the hospital wing and Dumbledore went to find Hagrid. Immediately the Marauders jumped on them.

"Are you ok?"

"What was that thing anyway?"

"Is the poison out of you?" Harry sighed.

"I'm fine, I don't know, and probably since I'm out of there aren't I?"

"I guess so," Sirius said.

"Thanks for helping me by the way. It's good you happened to be there at the time." The Marauders looked at each other guiltily.

"Your welcome," they said quietly and headed off to lunch with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.


	4. Betrayal and pain

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

**Harry Potter Ninja: Change the names of what?

* * *

**

Chapter 4:Betrayal and pain

The rest of the day past normally and soon the news of how Harry almost died, but Ron, James, Sirius, and Remus saved him was all over school by the next day.

On Monday they had classes again and the Marauders kept an eye on their friends. They didn't see anything suspicious about them, but they still thought they were hiding something.

On Saturday, a week after Harry's rescue, they all headed to the grounds again (Hagrid had managed to send the thing to the Dangerous Magical Creatures zoo) after lunch. They sat and talked, and played Exploding Snap and Wizard chess for a couple of hours. Then James, Remus, and Sirius claimed to have forgotten to do their transfiguration homework and raced inside. Soon they came out with the Invisibility Cloak on.

"Hey did you guys hear that?" Ron suddenly asked Harry and Hermione.

"Hear what?" Hermione asked him.

"A rustling sound. It sounded like there's something in the bushes."

"Well why don't you go see what it is?" Harry said. Before Ron could get a chance to a green snake slithered out of the bush. It was bleeding on its back and Harry could make out what it was saying.

"Sso hurt. Ssstupid twigsss. I need help, but where to find it?"

"What'sss wrong with you?" Harry asked it kindly, making sure no one was around. The Marauders nearly fell over in shock. Ron and Hermione looked at their friend.

"What's it saying?" Hermione whispered.

"Oh, you can ssspeak to me!"

"Yesss. How are you hurt?"

"I cut myssself."

"Oh, let me fix that for you." Harry performed a healing spell and the snake looked relieved.

"Thank you sssir, you are very kind." It slithered away happily.

"Harry?" Ron asked.

"Oh, it cut itself on a twig or something so I helped it."

"Ok. We should go to dinner."

"Yeah," he said and they stood up. They walked back to the castle leaving three invisible boys gaping at their backs.

"He's a parselmouth!" Sirius whispered.

"I know, I can't believe it and we've been friends with him ever since he came here!" James exclaimed.

"So you guys think he's a Death Eater?" Remus asked.

"Of course! Has there ever been a parselmouth who isn't dark?"

"No, no I agree. But that means they all are because they know he can talk to snakes and they're still friends with him."

"We have to go tell everybody!" Sirius said. James put the Cloak in his pocket and they sped off after the other three.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting next to Lily and Mia (who had apologized for being so rude), wondering where the Marauders were. It couldn't take them that long to do transfiguration because they were the best in that class. Ron was piling potatoes on his plate when suddenly the doors burst open, and James, Sirius, and Remus rushed through.

"Hey Sirius," Harry said.

"Don't 'Hey' me," Sirius snarled. Up at the head table Sam had closed his eyes, put his head in his hands, and started muttering "Oh no."

"What?"

"We know all about you three."

"What are you talking about, Sirius?" Ron asked.

"We know that he's a parselmouth!" Sirius yelled pointing at Harry. Everyone stopped talking and looked at the Gryffindor table. Sam started banging his head on the table (but nobody noticed because they were all looking at Harry and Sirius), Hermione gasped, Harry's eyes widened in shock, and Ron started shaking with fury. Before he could say anything, though, Lily's voice broke the silence.

"Is that really what you have to do to get attention?" she asked furiously. "Make up some stupid story about Harry being a parselmouth? That's so low!"

"We aren't making it up; we just heard him talking to a snake that had a cut on its back, isn't that right Harry?" James said. Harry turned his eyes on him. They were filled with hurt and anger, but his face remained expressionless and he didn't say anything.

"Are you not saying anything because you know you won't be able to get out of this?" Remus sneered. Ron, Harry, and Hermione couldn't believe Sirius and Remus could act like this. It was so different then what they were used to. They didn't know about James, though they hoped he wasn't like this when he was older.

"No," the green eyed boy said.

"Oh, so is it because you're _not _a parselmouth, and _not_ a Death Eater?" Remus asked sarcastically.

"No," he said again.

"Can you tell me why you're calling your friend a dark wizard?" Mia asked.

"Not just him; Ron and Hermione too, because they knew he was a parselmouth and they didn't do anything about it," James said. Over at the Head Table Richard had his head in his hands, and Sam was looking at the scene in front of him sadly. Dumbledore was thinking about Harry being a parselmouth; he knew he couldn't be a dark wizard, and he was amazed his friends could say that he was.

"How dare you call us Death Eaters?" Ron shouted, standing up. "I can't believe we counted you as our friends!" Harry stood up as well.

"I think," he said, "I'm done with my dinner. I still have something I need to do so I'm going to go." He began walking away but James aimed his wand.

"_Rictusempra!_" he yelled. Harry doubled up not able to do anything, because he was laughing so hard. But between laughs, he pointed his wand at James.

"_Tarantallegra!"_ he gasped. James' legs started to jerk around out of control.

"Oh no, this is just like second year," Ron murmured to Hermione. She nodded and hoped James didn't know the spell that would really get Harry in trouble.

"Boys!" Professor McGonagall stood up. "Detention tomorrow night and ten points from Gryffindor!" Professor Dumbledore put a hand on her shoulder.

"They can handle this," he said quietly. She shot them a stern look but sat down.

"_Finite Incantatem!"_ Hermione said and Harry and James returned to their normal state. Harry was furious by now but he had to get out. He started walking away again but heard one word that made him stop in his tracks.

"_Serpensortia!_" he heard a hissing behind him and people screaming. Hermione and Ron had shut their eyes; Harry had almost no way out of this. He turned around slowly. Teachers were getting up from the table trying to get to the snake but they couldn't see it because of the crowd around it and all of the students were too scared to move. Lily was getting up now.

"So now who's the one who's a dark wizard? The one who is blamed for talking to snakes or the one that _conjures them?" _ She hissed. (No pun intended). The snake began slithering towards Sirius who was backing away.

"James," he said slowly "Get rid of the snake!" But James wasn't acting like himself. He was smirking and looking at Harry.

"Going to save everybody, Harry? You know you're the only one who can."

"You know what James?" Harry's blood was boiling "_You_ conjured it so I'm going to let _you_ get rid of it." He was about to turn around again when he saw the snake open it mouth at Sirius' leg. Teachers were trying to get to him but not even Dumbledore could do anything because the snake was hidden from view. The snake was about to bite the terrified boy's leg when Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Don't," he said. A hissing left his mouth and everyone looked at him fearfully. "Don't bite him." The snake turned to look at Harry.

"Why ssshouldn't I? He hasss causssed you pain, and yet you try and sssave him."

"He isss a better perssson later on. He will caussse me much happinesss in life. Pleassse don't hurt him." The snake nodded and slumped to the ground closing its mouth. Harry waved his wand and it disappeared. Everybody stared at him as he moved towards Sirius.

"Harry!" Hermione whispered. He ignored her.

"I don't really know why I bothered helping you." Harry spat. James and Remus ran over to Sirius' side. "I thought you were my friends, you know? I would have told you if I was sure I could trust you to believe me about not being dark. Now you found out, and told the whole school. So now everybody's going to hate me. You know what this reminds me of? My whole life after I was one until I was eleven. My cousin hated me and since he was always the school bully, everyone else did too. My aunt and uncle thought I was a freak and locked me in the cupboard under the stairs until I got my letter for school. Oh and in second year when everyone found out I was a parselmouth they thought I was setting a basilisk on the muggle born students in our school. And then there was last year when we had a tournament at school. There was only supposed to be one person competing from our school but I got chosen as the second and everyone thought I was stealing the glory away from the other person. And we can't forget the _end_ of last year when everyone thought I was a crazy fame-seeking child. And of course, every summer when I go back to my aunt and uncle's house.

"I thought this year would be different. I guess I was wrong, though. There are a lot of things I could say about all of you. A lot of secrets I know you have." Harry's gaze lingered on Remus whose eyes widened. "I know more about you than you may ever know. I know all about your future and what's going to happen to you. How old you'll be when you die, how long your lives will be miserable or happy. How many kids you'll have, even, and who you're going to marry."

"What are you, some sort of seer?" Sirius asked.

"I guess you could say that. In any case, you know why I won't tell anyone your secrets, or things that will happen to you in the future? Because I don't want your lives to be miserable. If I tell your secrets there's a possibility everyone might hate you. Maybe they'll like you more but you never know. I'm not going to tell you what will happen to you in about ten years because I know you won't like it, and I want you to have a good life; not one where you keep dreading the day you know something bad will happen. This is called being a good friend, and Ron and Hermione are really great friends too because they know as much as I do and I know they won't tell."

"How do you know?" Remus croaked.

"We're all seers, in a way," Ron called out, coming to stand next to Harry. Hermione came behind him glaring at the Marauders.

"Everyone sees how you guys trust each other no matter what, and how you help each other whenever it's needed. We thought we had the same privilege, but I guess we were wrong," Harry said.

"Answer me this," Hermione suddenly spoke up. "Since when does transfiguration homework involve spying on your friends?" The Marauders looked at her guiltily. They didn't feel too different in their opinion but they still felt wrong about spying on the other three when they were friends.

"How long have you been spying on us?" Ron demanded. "All week? Maybe two weeks? I can't believe you."

"You guys better watch out in divination," Harry said. "Professor Carlson isn't a fraud like you all think she is. Remember the prediction where I was going to have a rough and dangerous two weeks? I did have it rough with you avoiding me. But I know you already knew that, as you were hiding in the bushes weren't you? That would also explain how close you happened to be when I almost drowned. You know how I know? I heard the bushes moving when there was no wind, but I never suspected you would do such a thing.

"Now, remember Sirius' prediction? About him betraying someone the second week of school and getting hurt because of it? Well what do you think he just did to us?" Sirius eyes widened. "As for the getting hurt because of it part, I think I can help with that." Harry concluded and suddenly his fist connected with Sirius' nose. Everyone gasped and Harry just turned around and stormed out of the Hall.

He had no idea where he was going; his feet were carrying him down corridor after corridor, and up staircases. He could hear people following him but he didn't stop. After a while, he found himself in front of a tapestry showing Barnabas the Barmy's attempts at training trolls to do ballet. He walked past it three times concentrating on these words: _I need a place to calm down. Somewhere where I can have peace and quiet to think about everything that's happened._ Suddenly a huge door appeared out of nowhere on the wall, and he opened it and walked inside. There was a fire blazing and a couch next to it. Right near the couch was a table with a steaming mug of hot chocolate on it. On the couch were big fluffy pillows.

Harry sat down and drained the cup. He couldn't believe he had punched his god father, but then again, he wasn't his god father yet and he had been really making Harry mad. The door opened again and Hermione, Ron, Lily, and Mia burst in.

"Harry! There you are!" Hermione exclaimed rushing over to her friend.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Lily and Mia.

"We don't think you're dark. Everyone else only does because there hasn't been a good parselmouth yet. I bet when the first parselmouth said he was a parselmouth everybody said that was impossible just because no one had been able to talk to snakes before," Mia said.

"I know, those boys are so primitive," Lily said. Harry laughed.

"Thanks. It's good to know we still have friends."

"Can I ask you guys something?" Lily asked tentatively.

"Sure," Ron said sitting down on the couch.

"You're not from here…are you? And Professor Carlson knew, didn't she?"

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked quickly.

"You're from the future," Mia said quietly.

"Well…we…" Hermione spluttered. "Yes," she said finally.

"Are we really that obvious?" Harry asked.

"Well, the thing in the Great Hall right now…" Mia said. Harry blushed.

"I just lost my temper."

"Oh don't worry. Everyone else in this school are idiots; they'll believe the whole seer thing." They all laughed.

"Harry, I can't believe you punched Sirius!" Ron exclaimed suddenly.

"Why not? Hasn't he punched somebody before?" Lily asked.

"No it's just-" Ron said wondering if he should go on.

"You can say, Ron, as long as they promise not to tell anyone," Hermione told him.

"We promise," the other two girls chorused.

"Well, Sirius is his future god father." Lily's eyes widened.

"So you're James' kid!"

"What?"

"I mean, you look so much like him and only he would make someone as crazy as Sirius his child's god father." They all laughed again.

"Yeah, he's my dad."

"So who's your mom?" Mia asked. "Anyone I know?"

"We can't tell you," Ron said. "It could ruin the future."

"Oh, I understand," she said though she looked slightly disappointed.

"So, um, why did you live with your aunt and uncle?" Lily asked. Harry looked at Hermione questioningly.

"I dunno if I can tell you. I mean, anything I tell you might ruin the future."

"We can tell you our names though," Hermione said. Lily brightened.

"Ok!"

"I'm Hermione Granger. My parents are muggles so you wouldn't know them, probably."

"Well I am muggle born, but I don't know them."

"I'm obviously Harry Potter."

"And I'm Ron Weasley."

"Is your father Arthur Weasley?"

"Yep."

"He graduated in our first year," Mia told them. "Harry, is it true what you said in the Great Hall? How you know everything about the Marauders' lives and secrets?"

"Yeah, I even know a lot about Peter."

"So you know about Remus?" Lily asked.

"How do you know?" Ron demanded.

"Well for five years he's been missing one class a month, always after the full moon. It's not hard to spot, even though I don't think anyone else has figured it out," Mia explained.

"So you know about the Marauders too?"

"About them being animagi? Yeah we know but they don't know we do."

"Oh." Before anyone could stop him Ron said "We're animagi too. But don't tell anyone."

"Really? That's awesome! Can we see?"

"Well I managed to do it completely," Hermione said "How about you guys?"

"Almost, I just need the feathers." Ron said.

"I only need the beak, the legs, and the feathers," Harry told them. "So Hermione can go first." Before she could do anything, the door opened and Sam and Richard ran in.

"Harry, I'm so sorry! I completely forgot to warn you about us doing that!" Sam yelled. Then he noticed Lily and Mia. "Oh man."

"It's ok; they know we're from the future."

"Oh my God!" Mia shrieked. "You're the future Sirius! And he's the future Remus, isn't he?" Richard sighed.

"Yes."

"Now I can feel good about hexing a teacher!" Lily said. Sam put his hands up.

"Oh please no, Lily! I've changed, I swear I have." Everyone broke out in laughter.

"Ok, I'll spare you. This time." Sam bowed.

"Thank you, Queen Lily."

"You've come just in time to see their animagi transformations," Mia announced.

"You've managed?" Richard asked.

"Well Hermione obviously has, but Ron and I still have some work." Sam and Richard plopped themselves on the couch.

"Let's see it then." Hermione nodded and closed her eyes. Suddenly there was a hawk in her place. She spread her wings and flew around the room once. Then she transformed back into a human. Everyone clapped and cheered. Then Ron stood up. He screwed his face up in concentration and then instead of Ron there was a hawk owl in his place. He, in turn, flew around and landed, transforming back. As everyone applauded for him too he jumped up and down.

"I did it, I did it!" he sang. Then he sat down and Harry stood up. He shut his eyes concentrating on the image of a golden eagle. He felt himself shrink, and his legs became skinny. He grew wings, and his mouth hardened into a beak. His skin felt itchy and when he opened his eyes he realized he had feathers. He had fully transformed! He flew around the room, and it felt great. It was so different than flying on a broom. Once he had retransformed Sam jumped up and pulled him into a bear hug.

"You did it! My god son has become an animagus!" he cried.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day when Sirius is actually proud of something someone _else_ did," said Lily. Sam grinned.

"I'm full of surprises. Anyway, it's time to go back to your common room."

"What? No, I'm going to stay here tonight," Harry said. Ron and Hermione nodded.

"No, you can't because tonight you tell us exactly what secrets of ours you know. Then you succeed to make us even more suspicious and add to our list. Then we start to realize what is so strange about you and I think Dumbledore performs a memory charm on us because I can't remember what happens next." Richard said.

"Fine," Harry grumbled. "Wait a minute, what list?" Sam looked guilty.

"Oh, um, we kind of have a list of suspicious things about you," he said.

"That's not very nice," Harry said shaking his finger. Everyone laughed. After talking for a couple of minutes about the Marauders' past they all left the Room of Requirements and the kids headed back to Gryffindor tower. When Ron and Harry entered their dormitory the Marauders pounced on them.

"What exactly do you know about us?" James asked. Harry pushed him off and went to his bureau. He opened the drawer while listening to Ron do the same. The Marauders kept pestering them until Harry slammed his drawer shut and turned to face them.

"All right since you really want to know I'll tell you!" he shouted. He cast a silencing charm on the room and continued. "We know your friend, Peter Pettigrew's nickname is Wormtail and he's an illegal animagus. James' nickname is Prongs and he's also an animagus. Sirius is nicknamed Padfoot, and he's another animagus, and Remus is Moony and he's a werewolf which is why you even became animagi in the first place. Peter's a rat, James is a stag, and Sirius is a dog that looks like the Grim." Remus was looking very pale now. "You go to the Shrieking Shack every full moon with Remus and the only reason it's even called the Shrieking Shack is because of the sounds people hear coming from it. Those sounds are just Remus. We know all about your map and the Invisibility Cloak. We know everything about you. You know nothing about us so you have no right to call us Death Eaters. If you only knew what we've been through you'd rethink this, but no, since I'm a parselmouth we're all dark. God, I'm surprised you guys are the top of most of your classes, with brains the size of yours." He stormed into the bathroom followed by Ron. They slammed the door closed, leaving the stunned Marauders behind.


	5. The full moon

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own Harry Potter although I wish I did. And if I did I wouldn't have killed Sirius. I also don't own the little tea pot song.

Chapter 5: The full moon

Harry, Ron, and Hermione thought they'd be miserable without the Marauders, but they were actually having a great time with Lily and Mia. Lily and Hermione were the two who wanted to do their homework and then do fun things (Hermione was still obsessed with homework no matter how laid back she was) and Mia, Ron, and Harry wanted to just do fun things and didn't want to do homework. So they compromised. Lily and Hermione would make the other three do homework for two hours after dinner (sometimes more if they had a lot of stuff due the next day) and after that they would do whatever they wanted until bed.

It was a week after the fight with the Marauders and the five friends (Lily, Mia, Harry, Hermione, and Ron) were sitting in front of the crackling fire, with still an hour of homework left. The Marauders were sitting on the other side of the common room, shooting the three kids from the future nasty glares every once in a while.

"What did you guys get for number ten?" Mia asked about the Charms homework. Charms was her worst subject.

"_Accio,_" Harry murmured, not looking up from his transfiguration paper.

"How do you know that? You weren't even paying attention in class and you don't have the paper in front of you," Mia said incredulously.

"I have a good memory and remember where I'm from?"

"Oh right. Sorry," Mia said sheepishly and went back to her homework. (A/n: Lily and Mia know that Harry and co. are supposed to be in their fifth year and are actually fifteen). Ron groaned suddenly and threw down his quill.

"This is impossible!" he yelled.

"What?" Lily asked.

"How are we supposed to write three feet on Goblin rebellions in the fifteenth century?"

"I've already finished," said Hermione. "How much do you have left?"

"I don't know _why_ I bother. I mean it's not going to ruin my grade in the future," Ron was muttering, totally ignoring Hermione.

"Ron!" she yelled in his ear. He jumped.

"What?"

"How much do you have left?" she repeated.

"Six inches. And I was even writing big!" Hermione rolled her eyes and grabbed his parchment. After a minute of reading she started scribbling something furiously, and after three minutes it was lying on Ron's lap all finished. "Thanks. I don't know what I'd do without you." Hermione smiled.

"You'd have been expelled _ages_ ago" They all laughed.

"Finally I'm done with transfiguration," Harry said. "Mommy, can I play now?" he looked at Lily who laughed. The sad thing was he only half meant it as a joke.

"Well you're half an hour early, but if you've finished your homework I guess." Harry smiled sadly and pulled out a deck of Exploding Snap. He had a pretty tall tower made when it exploded, and burned Ron's homework since he was sitting next to Harry.

"Harry, I had just finished that," Ron said menacingly.

"Sorry." Harry shrugged and muttered "_Reparo_" hoping it worked on burnt paper. It did, and soon he was playing Wizard chess with Ron. The three girls finished their homework fifteen minutes later, and Lily was writing in her diary while Hermione and Mia were playing Exploding Snap. Hermione was about to put the final card onto the pile when James came over and "accidentally" knocked it over. All the cards exploded in Hermione's face. Lily, Harry, and Ron stood up angrily.

"POTTER!" Lily shrieked. "What was that for?" James didn't say anything. "She didn't do anything to you and you could have seriously hurt her by doing that!"

"First of all," James said, "I didn't knock it over on purpose." Sirius sniggered. Remus was in the hospital wing because it was the full moon that night. "And secondly how could she have gotten seriously hurt?"

"It was Exploding Snap, you idiot!" Harry yelled. _'I shouldn't have said that!'_ he berated himself.

"Oops, my bad," said James sarcastically. Then Sam came in.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, it's time for your tutoring session," he said. Actually they had to go to Richard for his transformation, and Lily and Mia knew that. He had been in the hospital for the past couple of days, saying he was sick so people wouldn't notice the symptoms, especially the Marauders.

"We'll take your stuff up, Hermione," they offered. Ron and Harry ran up to put their things away.

"How can you have a tutoring session without your books?" Sirius sneered.

"It's a special lesson without books," Sam said and left with the three animagi. Sirius looked outside.

"James, we should go to bed," he said and James nodded. They went up to their room, and came down a minute later with the Invisibility Cloak on. They snuck past Lily and Mia, and right when they were at the portrait hole Lily muttered,

"Bye boys." They nearly fell over in shock, but they were already late so they shrugged it off for the moment and hurried out.

* * *

Out on the grounds three birds and one big black dog were rushing to the Forbidden Forest. They started hearing howls of pain as soon as they reached the edge. The screams were incredibly loud because there were two werewolves transforming that night.

'_Where is he?'_ Ron was thinking and stopped in mid air when he heard a voice in his mind.

'_I don't know'_ it was Hermione.

'_How can you hear what I'm thinking?_" he asked.

'_Oh we all can hear each other'_ a new voice said. This time it was Sam.

'_Why?'_ Harry's voice.

'_Well you three can hear each other because of your strong bond of friendship and you can hear me and vice versa because I cast a spell on you so that it would be possible to communicate. We did the same thing at school.'_

'_Oh,'_ Harry said.

'_Where is Richard?'_ Hermione asked Sam.

'_I have no idea. No wait, I can pick up his scent. We have to find him before he finds our past selves.'_ The three birds followed the black dog and came across a wolf in a clearing.

'_Can he hear us too?'_ Ron asked.

'_Yes,'_ Richard said.

'_How come you weren't saying anything earlier?'_ Sam asked.

'_You have to be within fifteen feet of each other, remember? Anyway let's go. I might be able to talk to you normally but I can't control myself and I am getting restless.'_

'_Ok,'_ Sam said and started leading the way. They left the clearing and walked (or flew) for a while with the birds periodically flying down and Richard making grabs for them. Of course he never succeeded.

'_You know, this is really fun though if I was human right now I'd be bored out of my mind,'_ he said. Sam barked as a laugh, and Ron hooted, while Harry and Hermione chirped. They came to another clearing and Sam and Richard lay down (with Sam watching his friend carefully) while Harry, Ron, and Hermione flew around.

'_Imagine if one of you had turned out to be an ostrich,'_ Sam said and they all laughed their animal laugh again (Richard growled appreciatively). Suddenly Harry said,

'_I'll be right back'_ and flew off.

'_Where are you going?'_ Sam asked. Harry didn't say anything because he was more than fifteen feet away by then. In a minute he flew back frantically.

'_Run! Padfoot, Prongs, and Moony are coming! We can't let Richard and Remus see each other.'_ If two male werewolves saw each other they would always get in fights and were inseparable, usually until one of them was killed. It was just like normal wolves and territory fighting. Hermione and Ron flew ahead, leading Richard with Sam pushing him from behind. It was hard because he had already sensed the other werewolf. They made it out of the clearing just as a stag, another big black dog, and a wolf entered the clearing. That wasn't before they saw part of Sam though.

* * *

James and Sirius transformed and ran to the Shrieking Shack. They were in the tunnel when they heard screaming, but it was louder than usual.

'_It sounds like there are two werewolves,'_ Sirius said. _'Think we should stay here tonight?'_

'_No way! There can't possibly be two werewolves. Dumbledore would have told Remus who would have told us.'_ They entered the room in which the werewolf was waiting.

'_Hey Moony,' _ Sirius said.

'_Hi Padfoot, Prongs. Let's go.'_ They all walked out of the run down house and headed towards the Forbidden Forest. The night air was fresh after the rain from the previous day, and felt cool. The three friends explored the forest, and soon came across a unicorn.

'_That's a beautiful thing,'_ James said.

'Yeah_. I wish I had a pet unicorn,'_ Sirius said and they laughed (A/n: I don't know what sound stags make so use your imaginations).

'_Good luck catching one,'_ Remus growled.

'_Thanks,'_ Sirius began chasing the unicorn and it lowered its horn and charged. He yelped and ran away. Once the unicorn was satisfied that Sirius wasn't going to bother it again, it went back to grazing.

'_Guys, I've been thinking about Portico, Westle, and Garnly,'_ James said suddenly. _'I think they might be from the future. I mean Harry might be my son, since he looks so much like me and he knows all about us. If I was his father he'd know you two and Peter. And they seem to barely do any work in class, yet they get top marks. And in Divination, Carlson knew. I know she did.'_ He was saying this all rather uncomfortably. After a moment Sirius said.

'_Of course! It all makes sense in that case. And Sam and Richie must be too!'_

'_Wow. I never would have guessed,'_ Remus said. Sirius barked.

'_Shh,'_ he whispered. _'Did you hear that?' _The other two listened but didn't hear anything.

'_Are you ok mentally Padfoot?'_ James questioned, but suddenly Remus stiffened.

'_There's another werewolf here,'_ he said _'I can sense him'_ Suddenly Sirius and James were having trouble controlling their friend.

'_They…do…live…here,'_ Sirius grunted. Remus broke free and ran off. They took off after him, and heard a bark up ahead. They went faster and saw Remus running into a clearing, and on the other side they saw the back of a dog running away. Moony stopped and sniffed the ground. He growled and loped off, with Sirius and James behind him. They jumped on his back, and he fell, lashing out and trying to bite them. They held him until he calmed down. Then they got up, exhausted and lay down on the leaves.

After ten minutes of Remus apologizing and then talking about the other werewolf, he leapt up and grabbed something from the air. When Sirius and James looked closer they saw it was a golden eagle.

* * *

Hermione and Ron were pulling at Richard's fur to stop him from running forward, and Sam was trying to restrain him by force. Harry was perched on his face, covering his eyes so he would pay attention to the bird and not the other wolf. Finally Richard stopped snarling and trying to run forward and sat down, howling.

'_Thank God,_' Sam said, panting.

'_Sorry,'_ Richard said.

'_It's ok; we know it's not your fault.'_

'_I'm going to go see if they're following us,'_ Harry said and flew away. Soon he was fifteen feet away and they lost all means of communication with him.

Harry was pleased to see they were lying down, and Remus had calmed down. He hovered above them for a second and was about to fly away when he felt a searing pain in his legs. He looked down and saw huge paws holding him, and the claws were digging into his legs. He started thrashing around trying to get away, and Padfoot looked worried.

'_Remus, let the bird go. You're hurting it.'_

'_It's not a bird. It smells…different. Its scent is mixed with something else.'_

'_Still,'_ James said. _'You really should let it go.'_ Blood started to trickle down when Remus grabbed Harry's wing.

'_Sirius!'_ Harry screamed but of course his god father couldn't hear him. Harry's wing was hanging at an odd angle now because the werewolf was tugging on it and it was covered in red. Moony was snarling, and pulling the bird down. Suddenly he howled with pain, and keeled over, letting Harry go in the process. The eagle fell to the ground and lay there, unable to move for the pain. Remus' ears were shortening and his claws were becoming nails. His paws shrunk into hands, and his incisors became normal teeth. The fur vanished from his body and soon he was back to normal again. Harry started dragging himself away. He stood up and even though his legs protested started to limp away.

"Remus!" Sirius cried, transforming back into a human. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Remus said.

"That was a weird night," James said.

"Yeah," Sirius said and suddenly transformed into a huge dog again. He ran over to the side of the clearing and sniffed the ground. Then he was human again and running over to his friends. "Remember the dog we saw?" he asked.

"Yeah…"

"It…it smells like…me," he whispered.

"Really?" Remus murmured. Sirius nodded.

"We'll worry about that later; right now we need to take Remus to the Hospital wing" James said and they began walking away. By the time they remembered Harry and returned to help him, he was gone.

* * *

Richard screamed with pain and in a minute he was lying on the ground, breathing heavily as a human. The other three transformed and came to his side.

"You ok, Moony?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." Suddenly he was worried.

"Where's Harry?" he asked. Sam shook his head.

"I have no idea. We should go look for him." They helped Richard up and walked back to the clearing.

"That was so fun!" Ron exclaimed on the way.

"Yes it was. We need some strong coffee though," Hermione said yawning. They came to the opening and saw no trace of Remus, James, or Sirius. They looked around and didn't find Harry. They called for him but he didn't answer. They even transformed and shouted his name in their mind, but heard not a sound. Sam grew frantic.

"Where is he?" he yelled searching behind every bush. He still didn't find his god son. What he did find was blood. He was immediately replaced by a dog and smelled the red liquid. He barked angrily and took off running. Hermione and Ron and Richard followed him. The two students transformed when Richard said he'd catch up to them later and flew ahead after Sam. They found him as a human, near Hagrid's cabin leaning over something. Hermione and Ron transformed just as Richard came running out of the forest.

"Did he find him?"

"I think so," Ron said and they all sped over to Sam. It was a gruesome sight. Harry was lying on the ground unconscious. His left side was covered in blood, and his left arm was dangling loosely with more blood pouring out. His pants were ripped near his shins and there were deep scratch marks on his legs. He was also half covered in dirt. Sam swept him up and hurried back to the castle. Richard looked sick.

"You…you don't think…I-I did that, d-do you?" he stammered.

"Of course not! Why would you have tried to kill a bird or Harry? James and Sirius were there if he was in human form and there's no reason you would try and murder a bird," Hermione reassured him but she looked worried. What if it had been him? She shook that thought away and ran to catch up with Sam.

* * *

"What happened to him?" Madam Pomfrey shrieked, looking at Harry. Richard walked past and climbed into his bed so he could pretend to still be sick, but was watching Harry.

"I don't know," Sam choked out. Why did everything happen to Harry? First the lake now this!

"Put him on the bed," the medi-witch commanded and sped away searching for various potions and bandages. When she came back she waved her wand, and Harry was instantly dressed in clean hospital robes. Then she started cleaning around his arm.

"Please let him be ok," Sam pleaded. Madam Pomfrey looked grave.

"He should be, but he's lost a lot of blood." She then proceeded to slip a pain killing potion in Harry's mouth. She tried to make Sam and Hermione and Ron go away but Sam wouldn't leave. Hermione and Ron were forced to go get some breakfast and go to classes. Once they left Madam Pomfrey put on some gloves and took Harry's arm. She starting moving it around, trying to get it back in its socket. He had some torn muscles and ligaments.

Once his arm was back in its socket Madam Pomfrey asked Sam for the bandages, since she had to hold the arm in place because it wouldn't stay by itself. She wrapped it up so it wouldn't move, and started washing Harry's face and right arm clean of the dirt. When she was done she wrapped some salve onto his legs and was done. He looked much better by now.

In the bed across the room Remus was watching the curtains around Harry's bed. Madam Pomfrey came out and he saw the boy lying on the bed with his arm in bandages, and scratches on his legs. Suddenly the werewolf felt sick. He leaned over the side of his bed and threw up.


	6. The truth

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter 6: The truth

Lupin was released the next day and immediately he found his friends.

"James, Sirius, it was Harry!" he said. They looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" James asked. He and Sirius had dark bags under their eyes, as did Ron and Hermione.

"The bird! It was Harry."

"How is that possible?"

"He must be an animagus. He was with a werewolf that night, and Ron and Hermione were too, which is why they look so tired," he whispered. "One of the professors is the werewolf and one of them is…the future Sirius." Sirius and James looked shocked. "Remember how the dog's tracks smelled like Sirius?"

"Do you think Dumbledore knows?" James asked. Sirius was speechless.

"We need to talk to him about this," Remus said and they all walked to Dumbledore's office.

"Dancing fairy plums," James said and the gargoyle moved aside. "He hasn't changed it since our last prank apparently." They knocked on the headmaster's door.

"Come in," he said. They entered. "Hello, gentlemen. Did everything go well on the full moon, Remus?"

"Sort of," Remus answered and told Dumbledore all they had figured out.

"I see. Well you are correct. Harry is James' son, and Professor Lantir is the future Remus, and Professor Brown is the future Sirius."

"Who do I marry?" James asked eagerly. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"Lily Evans," he answered.

"What?" three voices cried.

"Surely you've noticed Harry's eyes?"

"Wait a minute; I remember Harry telling me his mum and dad were killed when he was one," James said slowly. Dumbledore nodded gravely. "I…I die?"

"You were killed by Lord Voldemort and Harry didn't die because Lily sacrificed herself for him. I'm afraid that's all I know that you can know."

"What happened to us?" Remus asked gesturing to himself and Sirius.

"Mr. Black spends twelve years in Azkaban for betraying James and lily, which he did not do. Then he escapes and his name is cleared two years later."

"Um, isn't it impossible to escape?" Sirius asked in horror.

"Everyone thought so."

"Who really did betray us?" James asked.

"Mr. Pettigrew."

"How could he?" Sirius exclaimed angrily.

"I'm afraid I have to modify your memory. This could change the future," Dumbledore said. The three boys started to protest but he already had his wand out. Before he made them forget everything that had happened in the past two days he said. "You will not be able to figure this out anymore no matter how many clues you get. And James, I hope you realize how you've hurt your son."

"What?" suddenly realization dawned on the boy. "Oh my God, I called my son a Death Eater. I can't believe it."

"I'm sure you'll patch things up," Dumbledore said. "By the way, Sirius, you're Harry's god father." As Sirius took this in the old man said "_Obliviate!_" and the three boys remembered only the fight between Harry, Ron, Hermione, and themselves.

* * *

Sam was asleep in his chair near Harry's bed. He had been there for two days, waiting for the boy to wake up. Richard had started going to class again; not that he had a choice with Sam spending all the time in the Hospital wing.

A stirring sound and a moan woke Sam up. He looked at Harry and saw him slowly opening his eyes.

"Harry?"

"Sirius?" Harry said groggily, sitting up. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure. When you left to see if they were following us, you didn't come back and I found you at the edge of the forest with your arm half torn out."

"That explains the pain," Harry mumbled. Sam smiled.

"Do you need anything to eat or drink? Or do you need more blankets or anything?"

"I'm fine, Sirius. Have you been here all this time?"

"Er…most of it... I mean, you lost a lot of blood and had a good chance of not making it."

"Thanks for your concern but you should really go get some sleep or something to eat." Sam ignored him.

"It's not fair, you know? Everything happens to you! You almost drowned, then you were attacked by some vicious creature, it's your destiny to kill some power crazy lunatic-" Harry interrupted him quietly.

"Sirius- I mean Sam- Remus attacked me," he said.

"What?"

"He felt like there was something different about me. I know it's not his fault; he can't control himself as a werewolf, but I think he might have killed me if he hadn't started retransforming." Sam swallowed.

"We can't tell him. He'd never forgive himself, and he'd possibly do something rash."

"I know." Before they could say anything else Madam Pomfrey came in.

"He's awake? How come you didn't tell me?" she cried.

"He only just woke up," Sam explained. The medi-witch took off Harry's bandages and he almost threw up when he saw his arm.

"That's disgusting! Is that really my arm?" Madam Pomfrey nodded.

"I have to clean it up. It's going to be painful so I have to give you some pain killing potion."

"Can you make it so I don't fall asleep? I want to talk to Sirius- I mean Sam." Luckily Madam Pomfrey had been informed of them being from the future and who they really were.

"Of course" she smiled and got the potion. He gulped it down and relaxed.

"So, how is everyone? And how long was I unconscious?"

"You've been out for three days and Richard said it was the most painful transformation he's experienced in a couple of years since there's no potion here."

"Have you been here for three whole days?" Harry asked.

"Um, no," Sam lied. The doors suddenly burst open and Lily, Mia, Hermione, and Ron came in.

"You're awake!" They all yelled at the same time. Harry smiled.

"Yup, I'm awake."

"_That's_ your arm?" Ron asked incredulously, pointing at Harry's side.

"Yes," Harry sighed.

"What happened?" Lily asked.

"Yes we'd all like to know that," Madam Pomfrey said.

"I was taking a walk and something jumped out of the forest and attacked me." Harry said, thinking fast. Madam Pomfrey stiffened.

"Was it a wolf, or some sort of dog?" she asked.

"No, it definitely wasn't a wolf."

"Ok," she said skeptically and went back to wiping blood off of his arm.

"Why didn't you do that while I was asleep?" he asked.

"It hadn't completely stopped bleeding," she said.

"We brought you some food," Mia said and handed him a huge tray full of chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, bread, cake, and a goblet of pumpkin juice.

"Oh thanks." Harry suddenly realized how hungry he was. He started eating and in a couple of minutes the plates were empty. His arm was clean now, and was in a sling. Once Madam Pomfrey made sure the scratches on his legs weren't infected, she said he could go.

"Come back tomorrow after dinner!" she called after him. He nodded and happily left with his friends.

"I'm so glad you're back!" Hermione half hugged him, since she couldn't touch his left arm. He had to keep it in the sling for a while until the muscles and ligaments regrew since that couldn't be done magically yet.

"I'm happy I'm back"

"We've been so worried," Lily said "We came everyday, and Sam didn't even leave," she whispered.

"Really? He told me he did. Has he eaten?"

"A bit."

"Oh." Harry walked up behind Sam and started pushing him with his good arm. The others helped him and soon they were at the kitchens, Sam protesting the whole time. I house elf named Nira lead them to a couch, where Harry proceeded to force feed his god father.

"I can eat by myself," Sam said.

"Well then do it." Sam ate and finally Harry was satisfied. "Now time for some sleep."

"Oh but I really don't-" Sam's arguments were cut off when Harry conjured a bit of cloth and tied it around the man's mouth. They pushed him all they way to his rooms, passing many confused students and teachers. They got him on his bed and took away his wand, and left, locking the door behind them.

"It'll unlock when you've gotten enough sleep!" Harry yelled through the wood and they all ran off laughing.

* * *

After Dumbledore explained that they had been setting off dungbombs in the hallways, and couldn't remember anything because the Slytherins had hit them with a nasty spell, James, Remus, and Sirius left his office. They headed back to the common room and finished all their homework and went to sleep.

The next day they heard that Harry had been released from the Hospital wing. They were confused as to why he was there and went to look for him to see if there were any visible marks. When they found him they saw that his arm was in a sling but that was it. He was talking with his friends (excluding Lily and Mia) quietly and when he saw the Marauders he abruptly stopped.

"This calls for the Invisibility Cloak," Sirius announced and that night they listened in on Harry's conversation.

"If Voldemort would just die," he was saying, "I probably wouldn't be in this mess. Well I might, but I would be able to look forward to going back home. I mean really look forward to it, because aside from the being famous part, I would basically have a normal life. There wouldn't be any Dark Lord trying to kill me, you know?"

"It's your destiny to kill him Harry," Hermione said quietly.

"Or be killed by him," Harry pointed out. Remus gasped and Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked around. They didn't see anything but stopped talking.

"I'm going to go to bed," Ron said still looking around. "G'night."

"No, wait!" James said jumping out from under the Invisibility Cloak. Harry sighed.

"I should have known you'd be spying on us again. Sirius and Remus, you can come out." They did so, reluctantly. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Is everything you just said true?" Sirius asked.

"Yes."

"That it's your destiny to kill Voldemort or be killed by him?" James asked.

"Yes."

"W-were your parents killed by him?" Remus questioned. Harry stiffened.

"Yes," he said again. "Is there something you want now, or can we go?"

"I-I can't believe we called you Death Eaters!" James said. Suddenly it was as if the past week had never happened.

* * *

At breakfast the next morning the Marauders were forced to sit near Lily and Mia because of Harry and Hermione and Ron. James and Lily actually managed a civil conversation. It went like this:

"Can you pass the bacon?" James asked. Lily handed him what he asked for and continued ignoring him. "Listen I'm sorry for calling your friends Death Eaters." He offered.

"Thanks. So…how are you doing?" Lily asked, sounding a lot more pleasant. There was tension between them from all those years of hating each other but they were talking.

"I'm good, you?"

She smiled.

"Great!"

He chuckled.

"Good," he said and she blushed slightly.

"C'mon lovebirds," Sirius said, poking James on the shoulder. "We're gonna be late for class." James and Lily both blushed and stood up. James walked over to his future son and out his arm around his shoulders. Well, his right shoulder. Up at the teachers' table, Sam and Richards smiled.

"It's all back to normal," they said and headed off to class.

* * *

"Ok, Lily, truth or dare?" James asked. It was Friday night and Mia, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were playing truth or dare. James had just had to do the chicken dance wearing a purple and hot pink suit, and then parade it around the school.

"Dare," Lily said. James grinned.

"I dare you to kiss me," he said. Lily was shocked for a moment but leaned in. At the last moment James added "On the lips" Lily blushed because that was what she was going to do in the first place, and leaned farther. Soon their lips brushed together and James closed the little distance between them. Harry was grinning, along with everyone else. Lily had been planning on pulling away as soon as she did her dare, but found herself melting into the kiss. James pulled her closer and she put her arms around his neck. Suddenly Sirius did a cat call and they pulled away. Lily blushed deep red, and sat as far away from James as possible.

"No," Sirius whined "You two are supposed to be together now." He made James stand up. "Sit!" he commanded and pointed to the spot near Lily. He flopped down next to her. Then he put an arm around her shoulders.

"Hello," he said. Everyone was having trouble containing their laughter.

"Truth or dare, Harry?" Lily asked.

"Truth."

"Why do you talk like the boys described, in your sleep?" His nightmares were kept a secret from everyone except Richard, Sam, Ron, and Hermione.

"Nightmares," he said simply.

"Who's Cedric?" Remus asked. Harry paled.

"Only one question per truth. James, truth or dare?" everyone sensed Harry didn't want to talk about it and James answered.

"Truth," he said.

"Who do you have a crush on?" Harry asked, regaining his cheerful mood. James blushed. He had always asked Lily out, but everyone had thought he was kidding and only kept doing it because she kept saying no. the only people who knew how he felt about her were Sirius, Remus, Harry, and Ron.

"Lily," he mumbled.

"What was that?" Ron asked cupping his ear.

"Lily!" James said. Lily blushed and James looked at the floor, then looked up and smiled. "Lily dear, who do _you_ have a crush on_?" 'Please let it be me. I don't know what I'd do if it was someone else.'_

"Remember the truth spell on the room? Don't even bother lying," Mia said. Lily sighed forgetting he hadn't even asked truth or dare.

"James," she said.

"When did you have time for that?" Sirius asked. They had only become friends a couple of days ago.

"One question," Lily answered. The truth was she had liked him ever since second year. "Hermione, T or D?"

"D."

"I dare you to run around the school in nothing but your underwear screaming about how coke and Pepsi are the same thing then get on the teacher table in the Great Hall and sing 'I'm a little Teacup' at the top of your lungs, with hand movements." Hermione was mortified.

"But… I can't do that!" After the look everyone gave her she said "Fine. It's not like there's going to be anyone in the Great Hall anyway."

"That's where you're wrong. We had a late dinner tonight, and we left early so everyone should still be there. So will Snape, if you're lucky." Everyone burst out laughing.

"Well…I won't be showing anyone more than in a bikini," Hermione said and stuck her chin out. "Ha." Then she stripped down and ran out of the door. The group followed her. "Coke and Pepsi are the same thing! Don't you people realize? You are all crazy!" then for good measure she put the _Sonorus _charm on herself. It was actually really fun. "Are you listening to me?" she screamed, her voice 100 times louder than usual. "Coke and Pepsi are the same thing! Aaaaaaaaaaah!" she ran around in circles outside of the Great Hall. Earlier they had bewitched a camera to work in the castle and right now Mia was taping this.

"This is great!" she whispered. Hermione took a deep breath and pushed open the doors. Everyone stopped talking to look at her. She strode up to the teacher table and climbed on top of it.

"I'm a little tea pot, short and stout! Here is my handle, here is my spout!" she sang, hand movements and all. Once she was done with the whole song she got off of the table and walked out of the Hall. Suddenly everybody erupted into laughter, Sam and Richard were, of course, laughing the hardest.

The group ran back to the common room where Hermione put her clothes on and, once she finally managed to take the _Sonorus_ charm off of herself, burst into giggles. Soon they resumed their game.

"Truth or dare Sirius?" Hermione asked.

"Dare," he said proudly.

"I dare you to dress in drag tomorrow for the whole day, in a tube top and mini skirt." The next day was a Hogsmeade trip. "And you still have to go to Hogsmeade."

"Fine. Ron truth or dare?"

"Truth"

"What school did you used to go to?" Thankfully Ron was saved when Sam and Richard burst in.

"Harry! Harry, they found your par-" he noticed the Marauders, Lily, and Mia. "They found your parrot" he said. "Come on."

"My parrot! Good, he was really valuable; I nearly had a heart attack when I lost him. C'mon Ron, Hermione." They hurried out.

"His parrot?" Sirius asked. The others shrugged.

"What were you going to say?" Harry asked.

"They found your parents! Come on we have a lot to remember."

"What? This is a really cruel joke, Sam," Harry said.

"It's not a joke! Come _on_!" They were pulled into Richard and Sam's office and they sat down on the chairs there.

"What's going on?" Hermione demanded. Sam put a silencing charm on the room.

"Ok, we know everything about why we were sent to the past, and by whom. It was Dumbledore."

"Why would he send us to the past?" Ron asked.

"If you lot would stop interrupting me, I'd explain."

"Sorry," Ron said.

"Ok, before school you three were staying at Hogsmeade to help Dumbledore with freeing me. Madam Rosmerta believed my innocence and let me stay at the Three Broomsticks with you. A couple of days before school started, Voldemort attacked the village."

"I don't remember that!" Harry burst out. Sam glared at him. "Sorry, I forgot."

"Anyway Dumbledore gave you all memory potions that would last for a while. They're wearing off today. He gave them to you three so you would be able to have time to adjust before everything was dumped on you. Especially Harry. There would be too much for him to take in at one time, and he would have some sort of stress breakdown or something, so Dumbledore decided he needed time to rest before then."

"Wait a minute, I'm remembering something," Harry said. Hermione and Ron said they were too. In a minute they remembered everything.

"We heard there was a Death Eater attack on the village, and we, that is Remus, Dumbledore and all the teachers and I, headed down there. When we got down Hermione and Ron told us the Death Eaters had taken you, Sam said. "We couldn't find you until the end of the battle. I think you should explain what happened." Harry nodded.

"The Death Eaters came and started killing and torturing people. We came outside and they saw us…"

**Flashback…**

"_Look, there he is! It's Potter. Grab him!" one Death Eater said. Harry tried to fight them off and so did Ron and Hermione. The Death Eaters bound Harry's friends and knocked Harry out and carried him somewhere. When he woke up he saw he was in the woods outside of Hogsmeade and it was dark and cold. The trees were all gnarled and he could hear the screaming coming from the village. Harry was surrounded by Death Eaters. He stood up slowly and then quickly pulled his wand out, and stunned the lot of them. There were so many he was surprised he had managed it. He bound them up with ropes. Suddenly a chilling voice chilled his bones._

"_Well done Mr. Potter." He turned around and there was somebody in a cloak, with red gleaming eyes, and slits for nostrils._

**End Flashback…**

Hermione shuddered.

"That sounds horrible"

"It was."

**Flashback…**

"_Hello Tom," Harry said evenly._

"_Took some nerve to knock out all of my Death Eaters. I'm going to have to teach you a lesson. _Crucio!" _Harry fell to the ground in agony._

'_No,' he thought 'I won't scream I'll wait for it to pass.' Soon it did, and Harry had cuts in several places._

**End Flashback…**

"He used the Crucatius curse on you?" Sam exclaimed.

"Well, yeah," Harry said. "He _is_ Lord Voldemort, you know." Sam grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, right. Carry on."

**Flashback…**

"_Little Potter. You've grown up, and it's really too bad I have to kill you. If there was no prophecy I'm sure I could persuade you to work with me. We could rule the whole world, you know. _Avada Kedavra!_" Harry dodged it and sent a stunning spell at his nemesis._

"Crucio!_" he shouted when the stunning spell was blocked. He hadn't expected it to work, but Voldemort fell to the ground and screamed. It wasn't very loud but it was satisfying enough for Harry. Soon he lifted the curse, and immediately Voldemort sent a cutting spell at him, followed by the Crucatius. Harry was bleeding from various gashes in seconds. They kept exchanging spells, with Harry coming off worse, but still doing very good._

**End Flashback…**

"Come on Harry, hang in there." Richard said, as if he were watching a movie. They all laughed and he blushed.

**Flashback…**

_This lasted for an hour at least (sometimes when he was incapable of doing anything else, Harry would try to punch Voldemort)_

**End Flashback…**

Everyone laughed, picturing Harry punching Voldemort.

"I wish I could have seen that," Ron said "And I would have if Sirius hadn't sent me back up to the castle along with Hermione."

"It was for your safety," Sam explained and bade Harry to go on.

**Flashback…**

"_You're going the same way as your parents, Potter. It won't be such a loss to the world though…just like they weren't," Voldemort sneered. Hatred rose in Harry and he pointed his wand._

"CRUCIO!"_ he bellowed. This time Voldemort was in agony. Harry took the curse off and pointed his wand straight at Tom's chest. "_Avada Kedavra,_" he said quietly. A green light filled the night sky and a second later Lord Voldemort was dead._

**End Flashback…**

"Wow," Richard, Sam, Hermione, and Ron said at the same time.

"Keep going!" Hermione said.

"Ok," Harry obliged.

**Flashback…**

_Harry bound Voldemort's fallen body, and made sure there were no Death Eaters left. He levitated them all in front of him and walked down the path towards Hogsmeade. He reached the end of the path and heard voices._

"_The Dark Mark has faded from their arms. You don't think…" it was Sirius' voice._

"_Possibly," came Dumbledore's voice."_

**End Flashback…**

"I'll take it from here," Sam said.

"All right" Harry nodded.

**Flashback…**

_Sirius looked up from the Death Eaters on the ground (they had caught all of them) and saw the bodies of 100 or more floating in mid air. In the middle of them was the body of Lord Voldemort. Suddenly they fell to the ground. Voldemort's eyes were wide open giving the person he had been looking at last a look of defeat. His scarlet eyes were lifeless. He was dead._

**End Flashback…**

"I couldn't believe it," Sam said.

"Neither could I, or Dumbledore or anyone for that matter," Richard said.

**Flashback…**

_Sirius looked behind the bodies, and there, looking terribly hurt and cut up, was Harry. He was staring at the lifeless body in front of him. The others were beginning to stir, but he kept his gaze on the one in the middle. His emerald eyes suddenly filled with tears. Sirius was confused. Harry had just defeated the Dark Lord and he was crying. The boy fell to his knees, and his shoulders started shaking. Sirius rushed over and hugged him like a father would hug a son. It was all over._

**End Flashback…**

"After that Dumbledore modified your memories because it was too much. You needed time to adjust to it away from all the newspapers and people calling your name everywhere you went. You had to get used to the idea before the pressure could be put on you." Richard said.

"And now Dumbledore (this Dumbledore) has told us that in the letter he got from his future self, it explained that your parents were brought back to life because you killed their killer. People who you are friends with or close to also got their loved ones back. Neville's parents are sane again. Cedric is alive now. They all came to Dumbledore the day we left; before we left, so they'll still be there when we get back," Sam added.

"Cedric's back? My _parents_ are back?" Harry exclaimed.

"Yeah. You have a real family now, Harry."

"I have two families now," Harry said, still trying to get over the shock but speaking all the same. "You guys were all my first family. Always there for me, and all of the Weasleys too. And now I've got parents."He couldn't believe it. Then he realized something. "That's why my dream didn't seem real."

"What?" Richard asked.

"I had a nightmare, about a week or so ago, and it was about Voldemort, but it wasn't like a vision. It was more like a real nightmare."

"Oh."

"Harry, you can live a normal life now! Like you were saying a while ago. Besides for the being famous part, you can have a normal life without worrying about Voldemort forever." Hermione said excitedly.

"You're right!" shouted Harry. "I am a normal kid! Well, besides defeating the Dark Lord and all." They all laughed, and happily left the room.


	7. Back to the future

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or else I wouldn't be writing fan fiction would I?

**Ugh, I'm sorry for not updating for forever. I've just been kind of busy but it feels good to be posting stuff again.**

**I can't believe how many people thought that was the end! I read it and I guess it kind of sounds like it...maybe not so much to me because I know how much is left. Anyway, they still have to get home! Don't forget that! Hehe, well, anyway, the next chapter is the last.

* * *

**

Chapter 7: Back to the future

The next day the group had a great time in Hogsmeade. Sirius was wearing a red tube top and a black leather mini. He was getting strange looks everywhere they went. Harry was ecstatic. He was ready to stay here for a while then he would be excited to go back to the future too, because he had something to look forward to. Meeting his parents. He was on good terms with his teenage parents so they wouldn't remember him as the kid they hated in their fourth year, when they saw him.

After Hogsmeade, Sirius, James, Remus, Harry, Ron, Lily, Hermione, and Mia went to the Great Hall for dinner and Hermione let Sirius change to normal clothes. Once they were finished, they all went up to the Gryffindor common room. Harry and Ron played Wizard chess, while the other boys cheered them on.

"Queen to E5," said Harry. Ron grinned.

"Bishop to C6," he said and Harry groaned. "Check and mate."

"My turn, my turn!" Sirius called and pushed Harry over. He set the pieces back up and he and Ron began to play. Harry got up from the floor, rubbing his arm. He stood next to James and Remus and watched Sirius lose.

"Anyone else want to try?" Ron asked.

"Not really, no," James said. "Let's play Gobstones."

"All right I'll go get some," said Remus and ran up the stairs. The girls were reading books and magazines, and talking about which dress robes they were going to order for the Halloween ball, which was next week. They hadn't found anything they liked in Hogsmeade that day.

Soon Remus came back down with the Gobstones set. He set it up, and invited James to come and play. James lost, and was soon covered in a disgusting liquid. Then Remus and Sirius played, and Remus joined James in watching the game while covered in a bad smelling substance. After a while, Harry was the only one not covered in anything disgusting, but Sirius solved that problem by conjuring a bucket of stinksap and dumping it all over Harry.

All smelly and disgusting, they walked over to the girls' corner and sat down next to them.

"Hey Hermione," Ron and Harry said, sitting down on either side of her. She screwed up her face.

"Ugh, what is that _awful_ smell?" she asked. Harry pretended to look hurt.

"What? You don't like my new cologne?" The boys all laughed.

"No, not really," she answered smiling and pushed him away. James, Remus, Ron, Sirius, and Harry all went up to take showers, and when they came back they smelled a lot better. They sat back down where they were sitting earlier.

"So, what do you guys want to do tomorrow?" Lily asked, putting down her book. They had all finished their homework already.

"Dunno," James said. "There's no snow to have a snowball fight with, and we just went to Hogsmeade today."

"Let's go swimming!" Sirius said. Everyone stared at him.

"Sirius, it's the end of October. It'll be freezing!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Yeah, but its fun," Ron put in.

"What do you mean, when did you ever do it?" she asked him.

"Ron and I did it before the start of term, when we were staying in Hogsmeade," Harry told her.

"Oh, but that was August!"

"And it was still freezing but fun."

"Fine. Don't expect me to join you, though."

"Ok."

"Why don't we go now?" Remus said.

"Sure!" Ron answered "But then what do we do tomorrow?"

"We'll think of something. Let's go swimming now," James said, and the boys all took off through the portrait. Hermione, Lily, and Mia looked at each other and sped off to the boys' dorms. They got James' Invisibility Cloak and put it on. Then they crept out of the castle onto the grounds.

The boys were right in front of them, on the shoreline. They girls moved forward quietly and were about to push their friends in, when they turned around and pushed the invisible girls in instead, taking off the Cloak. The three girls fell in the water with a splash.

"Tsk, tsk," said James. "Stealing from me, Lily?" Lily got out of the freezing water quickly.

"Shut up, James."

"Aww, you're just sad because your plan backfired."

"How'd you know where we were?" Mia asked, getting out of the lake and helping Hermione out too.

"We have our ways," cackled Sirius, and the five boys disappeared under the Cloak. Of course, they had been using the Marauders Map.

"Hey! Where are you?" shouted Hermione, looking around nervously.

"Over heeeeeere!" came a ghostly voice near the Whomping Willow.

"No, over heeeeeere!" came another mystical voice from the other side of the grounds. Then suddenly Harry materialized in front of Hermione.

"No, actually, over here," he said and pushed her in again. Then he disappeared, but the girls could still hear the laughter. Hermione jumped out of the lake and dried herself.

"Harry Potter, I'm going to kill you!" she realized what she had said and clamped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late. The laughter stopped and the boys appeared a couple of feet in front of the girls. Lily and Mia stared at Hermione. Harry and Ron glared. "Sorry, it's just he looks so much like James, I said Potter instead of Portico." Hermione said lamely. The Marauders nodded, but still looked at her suspiciously.

"Let's go in," said Mia and the girls all ran off.

"That was weird," said Remus.

"Yeah…" James trailed off, staring at Harry who looked away nervously. "Let's go back in." They walked silently back to the castle, with James holding the Cloak. When they got into the common room, the Marauders upstairs to put the Cloak away, and talk, and Harry and Ron walked furiously over to Hermione.

"C'mon," said Harry harshly as he grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the tower. When they were in a classroom with a silencing charm on it, he let go of her. "Why did you say that?" he screamed. "Everything could have been ruined!"

"We could have gotten Dumbledore to modify their memories!" Hermione shouted back.

"He already did it once! He told me, and remember what Richard said? If they had figured it out, everything would be too complicated to fix! Dumbledore can only modify their memories once about this, because they might forget much more than just what they found out!" (A/n: Dumbledore didn't tell Harry that the Marauders wouldn't be able to figure it out again)

"I'm sorry! It was a mistake!" Hermione yelled, her eyes brimming with tears. "I didn't mean to!"

"You could have ruined it all, Hermione!" Ron told her. "We probably would have had to go back to when we arrived here, and then go back to the future! Harry wouldn't be friends with his parents, and he'd be swamped with the press! None of us would even know why because we wouldn't remember it yet!" he said. "Even if you didn't mean to, it's still your fault," he added quietly. He and Harry left the room and Hermione's tears fell

* * *

**In the boys' dorm.**

"That was weird!" James said, sitting down on his bed. "Harry _does_ look a lot like me, but I don't think that's really why Hermione called him Harry Potter."

"Do you think, that maybe-" Remus began but suddenly his body gave a jerk.

"What, Moony?" James asked, but the same thing happened to him. Sirius followed.

"What were we talking about?" he asked afterwards.

"No idea," said Remus and they put the Cloak back and went to find their other friends. What had just happened was Dumbledore's spell. Anytime they got close to thinking that Harry and Ron and Hermione were from the future, they would automatically forget what made them think that and what they had just been thinking.

* * *

Harry and Ron came back through the portrait hole and flopped down on the couches. They knew Hermione hadn't meant to let it slip, but they were still angry at her. 

"Hey, where's Hermione?" Lily asked.

"How should we know?" Harry snapped.

"It's not like we have to keep track of her all the time," Ron snarled. They were a dangerous pair when angered. Ron had the famous red-head temper (also known in the Weasleys as the Weasley temper), and Harry had inherited a short fuse from his mother, which also gave him a bit of the red-head temper.

"It's just you left with her," Lily said meekly.

"Well, we came back without her. Doesn't mean we know where she is," Harry growled. Lily started to get angry.

"All right! You don't have to be so rude," she said.

"I'll be rude if I want to," Harry replied.

"Well, I don't like it so, don't be rude to me!"

"Or what?" Ron asked, standing up.

"Yeah," Harry said, also getting to his feet. Lily got up too. "Or what?"

"I'll hex you into next week," she said. Then she slapped them both and stormed up to her room. Mia cast a worried glance at the two boys with red cheeks and hurried after her friend. Harry and Ron stood, shocked. Harry brought his hand up to his cheek gingerly and winced.

"Yeah," said James, trying to brighten the mood. "She does hit hard, huh?" Harry and Ron turned to glare at him before bursting out into laughter.

* * *

The boys being boys, thought it was all Lily's fault, of course, since she shouldn't have been annoying Harry and Ron by pestering them about Hermione, and the girls being girls, thought it was all Harry and Ron's fault since they shouldn't have been so rude. Now it was time for Hermione to make her appearance. 

"Hey guys," she muttered miserably, lying down on her bed. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her cheeks were still a little bit wet. By the time she had come back, the boys had left the common room.

"What's wrong?" Lily and Mia asked, rushing over to Hermione's bed. Hermione told them what happened.

"They shouldn't have done that!" Lily whispered angrily. "Ugh, I hate Harry; he's just like James! Well, how James used to be." Hermione winced.

"Really, you shouldn't hate him; I _did_ mess up."

"And Ron!" Lily screeched, ignoring Hermione. "He had no right to be like that either!"

"Well, they were right; I mean everything would have been ruined if the Marauders found out," Hermione protested.

"Don't defend them!" Lily told her friend. Mia was just standing there, uncertain about what to do. "They were the ones in the wrong! You made a mistake, and they go and yell at you for it!"

"But-"

"Oh no, you're not going to stick up for them. No, you're going to be mad at them."

"But I'm not, it was my fau-"

"No it wasn't!" Lily's eyes were glowing with anger and Hermione cowered against her bed.

"Ok," she said timidly. Lily kept on glaring. "Er- I hate them and I'm mad at them now?" Lily gave a satisfied nod, grabbed her pajamas, and went into the bathroom to change.

* * *

The next day, the Marauders ate at one end of the Gryffindor table and the girls ate at the other. Sam still burst out laughing whenever he looked at his past self, remembering the mini skirt and tube top, which meant he might start laughing his head off at a random moment, causing everyone to think he was insane. 

In their first class of the day (Care of Magical Creatures), they had to work in pairs. Unfortunately, Professor Kettleburn was assigning the pairs. Of course, it was James and Lily, Sirius and Mia, Harry and Hermione, and Ron and Snape. (A/n: The last one's not an "of course" but there was an odd number of people there and I couldn't put Remus with Ron because they had to be bad pairs, right?). They were all currently working with nifflers (A/n: _Please_ tell me if that's what they're called! I mean the animals that like shiny objects!), and halfway through the lesson disaster struck.

Snape was just about to throw out his wristwatch again, for the niffler to bring back, when he had a sudden idea. Ron was watching the other groups, since it was Snape's turn with the niffler, and not paying attention to his partner. Since the said partner was evil and nasty, he decided to throw the watch onto Ron's head. Professor Kettleburn was preparing food for the nifflers, away from the class. Ron felt something unusually heavy for a wristwatch land on his head, and for a moment he was dazed. That is, until he felt claws digging into his scalp. He clutched his head and tried to get the thing off but it wouldn't let go. Then he tried shaking his head violently but still, the creature remained. By this time everyone was looking at him, thinking he'd gone crazy, since they couldn't see the niffler (it was a small one) through his hair. Finally he began screaming at the pain.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrgggggggg!" Snape was looking very pleased with himself. Lily and Mia and Hermione (along with almost the whole rest of the class; all of the Slytherins, though) began laughing. That is, until a small creature that looked a little like an ant-eater fell out of the brilliant red. He ran forward towards Severus Snape, clutching a slightly red-tinged watch.

"You put a niffler on his head?" James screamed, outraged.

"God Damnit, Snape!" Ron yelled. He was really dizzy, because of shaking his head around so much. He and all the Marauders and Harry leaped at Snape, knocking him to the ground. Professor Kettleburn returned and pulled the five strong boys off of the Slytherin, who was looking very bad right now. He had two black eyes, a cut lip, and bruises all over his face along with some other little injuries. He was sent to the Hospital Wing and Professor Kettleburn gave him and the other boys detention, for setting a niffler on someone (Snape) and fighting (Harry, Ron, and the Marauders). Then she dismissed the class.

"Ron, you ok?" Remus asked. "The watch had some blood on it." Ron reached up to touch his head.

"No, it's fine. There was just a little drop."

"Ok," said Remus. Harry grinned.

"That was kinda fun! We got to attack a teacher! Well, a younger version of our teacher, but still." Ron grinned too.

"That was awesome," he said.

* * *

After lunch they had transfiguration (they were learning more about animagi and the Marauders, Harry, Ron, and Hermione got twenty points apiece). All six of them walked off feeling very pleased with themselves, since they had just earned one hundred and twenty points for Gryffindor. That night there was a party in the tower (it was very rare for anyone to earn that much in one day) and then it was time for bed.

* * *

Over the next week, the girls and boys were still not talking to each other, and it was driving them all insane, especially since the ball was tomorrow and Mia was going with Sirius, Lily was going with James, and Ron was going with Hermione. Remus and Harry were taking some girls from Ravenclaw 

Finally, one night in the Gryffindor common room, they were the only people left. Ron was the first one to speak.

"Listen, Hermione, and Lily, I'm really sorry about being so rude and harsh to you. I was in a bad mood."

"Me too. We really shouldn't have lost it like that," added Harry. Hermione and Lily nodded.

"We're sorry too." Hermione said.

"Wait, you didn't do anything, Sirius pointed out.

"Oh yeah," said Hermione, looking at Ron and Harry. They knew she was apologizing for her mistake.

"It really was an honest mistake, Hermione," said Ron, after he and Harry and Hermione were packing up. The others had gone to bed. "We're sorry about it." Hermione smiled.

"I know," she said, "its ok. Let's go to bed." They all walked up the stairs to their dormitories, and soon all three were fast asleep.

* * *

The next afternoon, the girls were locked up in their dormitory, getting ready for the ball. The boys were playing Quidditch, and since it was raining they were soaking wet and muddy. At 7:45, they decided to get ready, since the ball was starting in fifteen minutes. They ran into the common room, and some couples who were leaving stared at them. 

"You're not going like _that_ are you?" a girl asked. Sirius made a very rude gesture involving his middle finger and ran up the stairs with his friends behind him. In five minutes, they had all taken showers and gotten dressed. Harry was wearing forest-green dress robes that brought out his eyes. James was in midnight-blue robes, and Sirius was in red. Remus was in plain black. Once they were ready, Harry and Remus flew off to the Ravenclaw common room (their dates had told them where it was) without waiting for Lily, Mia, and Hermione.

All three of the girls had decided against robes.

Hermione came down first. She was wearing a midnight-blue (like James'), silky dress, down to the floor. Her hair was wavy, and she had a little bit of blue make-up on. Her shoes had two-inch heels (she had been practicing wearing them for a while since she didn't normally wear heels) and were the same color as her dress. She had gloves on, also the same blue as her clothes. She looked beautiful. Ron and a lot of other people were staring at her, and she blushed at all the attention she was getting.

Mia came down next. She had on a black dress, with dark blue make-up, like Hermione's. She was wearing gloves as well, and had loopy earrings on. Her hair was in a ponytail and wisps of it came down on either side of her face. Her shoes were black, strappy sandals, on a three-inch heel.

Then it was Lily's turn. She had an emerald green dress, with no back, and pale green make-up. Her hair was in a bun, and she was carrying a little purse. She had green bracelets and earrings on. Her shoes were the same color green, also with three-inch heels. They all looked amazing, and their dates were getting a lot of jealous looks.

They met Harry and Remus in the Great Hall. Harry's date, Stephanie, was in a pink dress with loads of make-up on. She looked very good too, despite the amount of make-up. Stephanie had blond hair, and blue eyes.

Remus' date, Jackie, was a girl he had liked for a long time. She had black hair and dark brown eyes. She was in black dress robes with black make-up. She was going for the gothic look and it suited her.

Everyone had a great time and danced a lot. Remus and Jackie were a couple by the end of the night, and so were Sirius and Mia. Sirius promised her he wouldn't just use her for a couple of days, and then dump her, so she had agreed. Later, Sam had told Hermione, Ron, and Harry that it was true, and they had gone out for the whole year. Then they had an on and off relationship which ended in the off mode, in the middle of seventh year. The reason they had ended, however, was because a Death Eater attack had killed her parents. She had gone home for the funeral and they had gotten her too. Sam almost started crying, telling the story, and had had to leave the room.

The ball had ended early because someone (coughthemaraudersHarryandRoncough) had spiked the punch. Then they drank it, and passed out cold. Their dates were left to bring them back to the common room, except for Stephanie and Jackie because Lily, Mia, and Hermione had promised to levitate Harry and Remus back. Harry, Remus, Ron, James, and Sirius had had an exceptionally good time, because they had the most punch.

The girls didn't want to go to bed yet (it was eleven) so they crept up to the boys' dormitories to find something interesting. They found a couple of bottles of firewisky. Lily, Mia, and Hermione weren't the type of girls to get drunk when they were fourteen, but they decided to give it a go. The next morning found them all waking up on their boyfriends, with massive hangovers.

* * *

It was a Saturday, and a Hogsmeade weekend, but the trio from the future hadn't wanted to go. Remus, James, Sirius, Lily, and Mia had left them after trying to make them go all morning. Sam and Richard were up in the boys' dormitories, where Hermione was sitting with Harry and Ron. They were all talking when they heard a tap and an irritable hoot from the window. Harry opened it, and a half-black half-white owl flew in, with a letter tied to its leg. Once it had been removed, the owl stretched its wings and soared outside. 

The five of them knew what this letter was; it was their ticket home.

"We should open it later; after we've said goodbye," Sam said.

"Yeah," agreed the others. They wandered around the school trying to find Crookshanks for an hour, before Sam remembered the cat liked him in his animagus form and transformed. They finally found the ginger cat, and went to the owlery to get Hedwig and Pig.

After that, Sam and Richard helped Ron and Harry pack up their things (Hermione had decided to do it herself), and once Hermione had brought her luggage in the boys' dorm, they went to Dumbledore's office. When they knocked and were told to enter, they did so. They sat down in the comfortable chairs in front of the headmaster's desk.

"Professor," Harry said. "We got your letter." He showed Dumbledore the letter. The old man smiled.

"I see. And you are here to tell me that you are going?"

"Yes, but we want to wait for our friends," Hermione said.

"I suggest going to find them now, in Hogsmeade. That way they won't be able to catch you leaving," Dumbledore said.

"Yes, you're right," Richard said.

"I must say, I am sad to see you go." The group nodded and stood up. "I have a replacement teacher, so don't worry about that," Dumbledore added, when he saw Richard open his mouth to speak. Richard smiled. He and the others turned around to go, but stopped when Dumbledore said something else. "Miss Granger?" She turned around.

"Yes?"

"Please take care of the fact that the girls know of your true identities?" No one except Remus and Hermione understood that.

"Yes sir."

"Goodbye," said Dumbledore.

"'Bye!" They all chorused, and headed out to Hogsmeade.

They found Sirius, James, Remus, Mia, and Lily in the Three Broomsticks.

"You have to go?" Lily asked. "No, stay!"

"Sorry, Lily, we have to go home," Harry said with a meaningful look. She and Mia understood.

"Oh, I understand, I guess. I wish we could still keep in touch, though I know that's impossible."

"Only time will tell," Hermione said, smiling. Lily and Mia smiled.

"I agree," they both said. The Marauders were sad that they would lose their pranking friends, but Harry and Ron told them they might see each other again in a couple of years. Finally, Hermione cast a spell on Lily and Mia, which went unnoticed by everyone except those from the future.

"'Bye!" everyone called to each other, and Hermione, Harry, and Ron walked out of the Three Broomsticks to where Sam and Richard were waiting.

"Ready to go?" Richard asked. They nodded, and set off towards the castle.

"Hey, Hermione?" Ron said.

"Yeah?"

"What spell did you cast on Lily and Mia?"

"Oh, it was just a spell so they wouldn't forget us, but they'd forget or ignore the fact that Harry is James' son, and that he looks like him a lot, and that stuff. So they don't do things, like Lily marrying James for instance, just because they know it has to happen. Do you understand?"

"Yup." In almost no time they reached the oak doors. The group of five made their way to the portrait of the Fat Lady, and when she let them in, they trudged up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

"We should get in our previous positions," said Remus, and they all tried to remember what position they had been in when they had received the first note. In the end, Ron was kneeling near his trunk, Harry was sitting on his bed touching all the things he needed to bring back, Remus was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom, Hermione was standing near Sirius, who was lying on Ron's bed. When they had all shouted "Ready!" Sirius opened the envelope.

"_It's time to go."_ was all it said. Suddenly the room began shaking. Hermione was thrown onto Sirius again, Ron was thrown onto his trunk, and the animals were all making protesting noises. Then it was all back to normal, and they all stood up. On the calendar was the right date, and the trunks near the beds read: _Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas,_ and_ Neville Longbottom. _They were back.


	8. Reunited

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

This is the last chapter, so I hope you guys enjoyed the story!

* * *

Chapter 8: Reunited

The group arrived at Dumbledore's gargoyle out of breath and panting. They guessed for the password for ten minutes and finally made it up the staircase and into the office. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, smiling at them. Around him was a small group of people, all around the age of 36, except for McGonagall, whose age was unknown to everyone but herself. The first person they saw was a woman with blond hair down to her shoulders and beautiful blue eyes. The next was another woman, with wavy red hair and Harry's eyes. The last was a man, with the same mop of hair as his son and happy hazel eyes.

Harry was at a loss for words. Remus and Sirius, however, were not.

"Prongs! Lily! Mia!" They exclaimed and lunged at their long lost friends.

"Easy, there, Padfoot," said James. "Coming back from the dead is a very trying experience." Sirius laughed happily and grabbed Lily.

"I can't believe it!" he said, "You're actually back!"

Lily nodded and laughed. Sirius then moved on to Mia.

"Mia…" he said. Without another word he kissed her. They broke apart and she smiled.

"I missed you too, Sirius," she said. As soon as the five old friends finished their greetings, they turned back to the trio standing before them.

"Mom? Dad?" said Harry weakly. Lily nodded and rushed forward, tears in her eyes. She grabbed him and hugged him for as long as she could before James pulled her off and took his turn.

"Harry," said Lily. "I can't believe it. You've grown so much!" She pulled a wrinkled old photograph out of her pocket and showed it to him. "That was you when you were little. And look at you now!" She wiped her eyes.

"You've grown up really well," said James, standing up to look at his son.

"Is that where…?" asked Lily suddenly, pointing at Harry's forehead. He moved his bangs to show them his scar.

"Where Voldemort hit me with the curse? Yeah, it is," he said.

"I'm so sorry!" wailed Lily and pulled him towards her again.

"Mum, its ok. Mum I can't – I can't breathe," wheezed Harry.

"Let him go, Lily," said James, trying to get another moment with his son before his wife suffocated him.

"Sorry," sniffed Lily.

"So, Harry, I've heard all about how awesome you are at Quidditch. Wanna go for a ride?" said James.

"Sure!" said Harry.

"James, you can do that later," said Lily, composing herself. "We have to buy a house and buy Harry books and robes and anything else he wants. And also fifteen years of birthday and Christmas presents. And also Sirius needs a house and a wand and everything."

"Fine," grumbled James, obviously not wanting to go shopping. Lily may never have been really a girly girl but when she went shopping…all I can say is this: take cover.

"Mum, I don't need books or robes. I already have all those. School started yesterday," said Harry.

"Oh, not just school books! Reading books, extra dress robes, casual robes, things like that!" said Lily enthusiastically. "You coming, Sirius, Mia?"

James gave his friend a pleading look. Sirius grinned.

"No, I better go look for a house. Wanna come live with me, Mia?" he asked casually. She looked surprised but nodded.

"Sure," she said.

"Later, guys," said Sirius, and they left the office.

"How about you, Remus?" asked Lily, turning on the other one.

"Uh…"

"Great! That's a yes!" said James and grabbed Remus by his arm.

"Well, Albus, Minerva, we better get going," said Lily, looking at Dumbledore and McGonagall. "We'll see you later." With that, she grabbed her son, husband, and husband's best friend and started to leave. At the last moment she turned around and looked at Hermione and Ron, who had been standing rather awkwardly the whole time. "Would you like to come too, Hermione and Ron?"

"Sure," said Ron, shrugging.

They all walked to Hogsmeade. Lily grabbed Harry's arm, James took Ron's, and Remus got Hermione's. Then they apparated into Diagon Alley. Dumbledore had thankfully taken care of the press, so they weren't bothered by anyone.

"First, we're getting books," said Lily happily. James rolled his eyes and followed his wife, knowing better than not to. Hermione went because she loved books and thought this was rather enjoyable. Harry, Ron, and Remus held back. Remus had been lucky enough not to have to go shopping with Lily too often, but that made him completely ignorant on how to handle it. At the door of the store, James noticed the other three guys weren't coming and turned around.

"You better come," he said. "You don't want to pay the price." With that he disappeared. Remus, Harry, and Ron looked at each other and hurried into the book store.

* * *

Half an hour later, they came out with enough books to fill three big book cases. **Big** book cases. 

"This isn't nearly enough," said Lily, shaking her head.

"Next time, I guess," said Hermione.

"Notice how neither of them are carrying the bags," Ron grunted and switched hands.

"Next time I'm taking you, Hermione," said Lily. "Only you appreciate books like I do." Hermione smiled.

"Where to next?" asked Remus, panting slightly.

"Quidditch store!" puffed James and they headed in that direction.

When they finally reached Quality Quidditch Supplies, the guys had enough time to put down their bags and put featherweight charms on them. Then they hurried off to see everything.

There was still no broom to match the Firebolt so James put two in his cart; one for Sirius and one for himself. He then put in a Broomstick Servicing Kit that was specially for the Firebolt.

"Ron, do you want one?" he asked, gesturing at the Firebolt.

Ron flushed.

"Oh, no, I could never accept it," he said.

"Nonsense. Your family took in Harry as one of their own. We owe you guys something. I'll get Firebolts for the lot of you."

"Mr. Potter -"

"James."

"What?"

"Call me James," said James.

"Oh o – ok," said Ron. "James, Firebolts are too expensive. We'd never be able to accept them for all of us."

"Well, how many of you guys are there?" asked James cheerfully.

"Seven kids, plus Mum and Dad," said Ron.

"Wow…" said James.

"Yeah," said Ron, turning pink.

"Well, how about Nimbus 2002's?" he asked. They were better than Nimbus 2001's but not as good as the Firebolts. And they were much less expensive. "I won't take no for an answer."

"Sure," said Ron, defeated.

James piled seven Nimbus 2002's into the cart, making sure not to scratch them or bend any of the twigs. Then he bought some Broomstick Servicing Kits (BSKs) for the Weasleys and went off to look at Quidditch equipment.

When they left the store, the Weasleys had four BSKs, seven new brooms, two Bludgers, a Quaffle, and a Snitch, plus a score board and three hoops that would levitate in the air instead of being held up by poles (they were much less expensive and Ron had drawn the line here). The Potters had all the same things except they had the pole hoops. These things were also made feather light.

Next were Madam Malkin's and then Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor for a little break.

"Everyone having fun?" asked Lily. Everyone nodded enthusiastically, though poor Ron and Hermione looked embarrassed. James and Lily had been forcing gifts on them left and right. Harry was ecstatic, and not just because of all his great new things. He had a family!

"Now, we need a family owl," said James. The boys rushed off into the animal store and Lily and Hermione followed slowly behind.

"Found one!" shouted Harry. Everyone crowded around. It was a great horned owl.

"Can we name it Charlie? Pretty please?" begged James.

"Sure," said Harry. James grinned and paid for Charlie.

"Hey, Harry, do you have that two-way mirror with you? Sirius told me he gave it to you," said James. Harry nodded and whipped it out.

"Sirius!" he said into it and handed it to his father. They walked along the little street, munching on popcorn or licking ice cream cones.

"Paddy!" said James when Sirius appeared.

"Prongsy!" said Sirius.

"Any luck with the house?"

"Yeah! And the one next door is perfect for you guys!"

"Cool. Well, come on over here then. We're more or less done with our shopping and we want to see that house!"

"All right. Actually, let me just show you the garden and you can apparate here," said Sirius. A beautiful garden, filled with roses and tulips and complete with a pond appeared on the mirror. "Got it?"

"Yeah," said James. "See you soon."

He made to give Harry his mirror back but he didn't take it.

"Keep it," he said to his father. "It's yours." James smiled and pocketed the mirror.

"All right, well, you guys ready to leave?"

"Yup," the rest of the group said.

"Ok, everyone grab onto my arm." They did as they were told and he apparated them to the garden.

"Look, there they are!" they heard Sirius say. He and Mia rushed over.

"Come look at this house!" said Mia and pulled Lily inside. The house was a big, white, Victorian style house. It was slightly excluded with the exception of Sirius and Mia's house, which was right next to it, but there were other houses a little down the street. The inside was empty, but Lily said she would soon fix that. Everyone groaned, knowing that furniture shopping was probably in store for that evening and that would be much less fun than Diagon Alley.

James, Ron, and Harry all went to the back of the house.

"This is a perfect spot for a Quidditch Pitch," said James. And it really was.

Harry smiled as he walked through the back door and into the house again. He walked around for a while, occasionally running into the others.

"You get the first pick for a room," said Lily. "Hermione and Ron will pick too, for when they come over and spend the night." Harry excitedly ran up the stairs. The first room he saw was too small, and the next was too big. The third room was perfect, however. It had three windows, a window seat at each one, and a walk in closet . Harry smiled as he claimed it as his own. He was now truly at home.


End file.
